Excessive sweating and body odor can interfere with your social life and stain your clothing. While a quick application of an antiperspirant may stop sweating and body odor production in most people, approximately 3 percent of the world population suffers from the embarrassment of excessive sweating, according to the International Hyperhidrosis Society (IHS).
How Body Odor Develops
Eccrine sweat glands are found in the cheeks, palms, soles of the feet, forehead and armpits. These glands produce an odorless type of perspiration that works to cool the surface of your skin. Apocrine glands, found under the arms and in the genital area, produce a thicker, fatty type of sweat. When this fluid combines with bacteria under the arms, a strong odor occurs. Both types of glands produce perspiration when stimulated by the nerves.
You are most likely to sweat when you are too hot, are exercising or feeling stressed or anxious. Hormones also trigger sweat production. Women going through menopause may find that they sweat more than they did when they were younger, due to hormonal changes. According to MedLine Plus, while women have more sweat glands than men, sweat glands are more active in men.
Body Odor Prevention Tips
Frequent bathing and wearing clean clothing helps prevent body odor from developing, but often these measures alone aren't sufficient when odor is a problem. Using anti-bacterial soap and wipes on the underarms and other parts of the body can help reduce the bacteria on the skin that causes odor.
If you are overweight, bathing at least once each day is crucial to preventing odor that may develop when bacteria grows in moist skin folds. After bathing, dry the areas under the folds thoroughly. Drying the folds can be accomplished more quickly by using a hairdryer on the lowest setting. If odor is a significant problem, you may want to bathe or shower twice each day or use anti-bacterial wipes to clean out the skin folds throughout the day. Applying powder to skin folds can be helpful in reducing odor caused by sweating.
Wearing natural fabrics, such as wool, cotton or silk, can allow air to circulate around your abdomen and under your armpits, reducing moisture in these areas. In some cases, diet may play a part in sweating. Keep a food diary for a week and note if sweating and body odor worsens when you drink hot or caffeinated beverages or eat spicy or strongly flavored foods.
Using Antiperspirants
While antiperspirants can help stop sweating, it is important to use a combination antiperspirant/deodorant to stop sweating and prevent odor. If your usual antiperspirant is no longer effective, you may want to dry one of the clinical strength products available at drugstores. If these products don't help, your doctor can prescribe a prescription-strength product. Applying antiperspirants at night when your body is cooler may make the product more effective in stopping wetness.
Medical Therapies
Botox, the botulinum toxin used to treat facial wrinkles, also helps people who suffer from excessive sweating by blocking the nervous system chemical that triggers sweating. Botox is injected under your arms near your sweat glands with a very thin needle. According to IHS, Botox may be effective in preventing underarm perspiration for seven months or longer. The absence of sweat from the armpits means that bacteria present on the skin will no longer cause odor. The effects of Botox wear off gradually and repeated injections are necessary to block perspiration.
In severe cases of excessive sweating, surgery to remove the sweat glands may be needed. Glands are removed using an open surgical procedure or liposuction. During liposuction, sweat glands are removed by placing a special suction tube just under the skin. Removal of the sweat glands is usually used as a last resort because side effects of the procedure may include excessive sweating in other parts of the body.
