Body odor is an unpleasant smell that is produced when the bacteria on the surface of your skin mixes up with your sweat. Its intensity may vary from person to person. People who face the problem of strong body odor naturally face a lot of challenges in maintaining a reputation in their social circle and even at work. Of course, they would never want to smell bad when surrounded by their friends, co-workers, or other people around.
If you want to know how to get rid of body odor, you have to first learn more about some of its major causes, which we are about to discuss in the article. We’ll also be sharing some key tips to help you overcome many different types of issues related to body odor.
Major Causes of Body Odor
Your body regulates its temperature by sweating. Basically, your sweat is odorless but when it meets the bacteria on your skin, things go wrong. Bacteria use your sweat as a breeding ground. This allows it to grow rapidly.
When people usually reach the age of puberty, they start to develop body odor. It is mainly because of hormonal changes. This is why even if young kids play or stay physically active the entire day, they wouldn’t smell as bad as adults involved in similar activities.
Here are some of the major causes of body odor you should be aware of:
- Extremely hot temperature when you sweat a lot
- Heavy exercise routine as well as jogging, running and walking
- Suffering from the different types of obesity
- Hormonal changes in body
- Unhealthy diet based on fatty, junk and oily foods. Foods that have a strong odor like onion and garlic
- Even some health conditions like diabetes, heart and kidney diseases.
Easy Tips to Reduce Body Odor
Body odor could be embarrassing and put a wrong impression on others. It makes people think that you are not properly taking care of your personal hygiene, even if you are. However, there are many different ways to remove bacteria from the surface of your skin, which is the main cause of that unpleasant odor. We’ll talk about some easy-to-work-on remedies here.
So, without any further delay, let’s get started with our list of some easy tips to reduce body odor.
Take Good Care of Your Personal Hygiene
Make it a habit to shower at least once a day. Wash away all the sweat. This way you will be able to remove all the bacteria from the surface of your skin.
As discussed, sweat is naturally odorless but bacteria on your skin causes all that smelly trouble. Using your sweat as their breeding ground, bacteria multiply themselves and increase the intensity of your body odor exponentially.
Wash your entire body thoroughly, especially the parts that according to you sweat and stink the most. Make a lot of soapy foam and apply it to those particular areas and rinse thoroughly.
Use an Antibacterial Soap Bar
Don’t fall for beauty soaps no matter how much they appeal to you, instead, always use antibacterial soap bars when bathing and taking shower. Antibacterial soaps are made to fight bacteria and remove them entirely from your body.
If you think soap bars are harsh for your body, you can go for an antibacterial body wash, which is also available in a wide variety these days. They are designed to keep your body moisturized for hours while eliminating all the bad bacteria contributing to body odor
Tip to Remember: When picking a soap bar or body wash, check for the “antibacterial” label.
Dry Yourself Properly After Taking Shower
This is one of the most important tips on how to get rid of body odor. The majority of people don’t towel off themselves properly, which is a very common mistake that contributes to body odor. This could be even more troublesome if you live in a region with a hot and humid climate.
The humidity and heat can quickly convert the moisture on your body into sweat, expediting bacteria growth and making your body stink. On the other hand, if you dry yourself properly, it would make it hard for bacteria to breed on the surface of your skin, keeping all the body odor at bay.
Use Deodorants and Antiperspirants If Needed
Some people naturally have a strong body odor, which couldn’t be only overcome by taking a shower or other types of cleaning practices. This is when deodorants and antiperspirants come in handy. Both of these are chemical-based products that work differently to reduce body odor. Deodorants keep you fresh by limiting body odor.
On the other hand, using antiperspirant products become important for you if you want to bring down the intensity of excessive wetness sweat, and wetness. Antiperspirants contain aluminum-based compounds, which are basically used to block pores on the surface of your body temporarily to reduce sweat.
Maintain Cleanliness of Your Wardrobe
Whenever you sweat, change your clothes at once. Sweat and bacteria absorbed in fabric multiply the intensity of your body odor. Wash your clothes thoroughly, so they are free from bacteria, sweat, and other types of contaminants. To make your washed clothes fragrant, use different types of fabric softeners and conditioners that are easily available these days.
Similarly, take care of your footwear. People with strong foot odor should try to wear a clean pair of socks every day. They can also sprinkle a deodorant powder in their shoes to keep them fragrant. It is always a good idea to take off the closed-toe shoes and let feet breathe, so they don’t get sweaty and smelly.
Avoid Certain Foods
You are what you eat. Well, this is true to some extent because there are certain foods that will make you sweat more and contribute to bacteria growth. This is why cutting back on certain foods is one of the best tips to reduce body odor.
Also, scientifically it has been proven that the strong odor of foods like garlic, onion and other types of curry mix spices naturally get transferred into your sweat. Drinks that contain caffeine like coffee and tea would also make you more sweaty, which is why you should consume them in a controlled manner.
We hope the tips on how to get rid of body odor that we have shared above will help you take care of your personal hygiene in a better way. By making these few changes you can make your body odor go away for good and feel more confident when attending a social gathering or being surrounded by a bunch of friends or family members.
