Main Causes of Body Odor and Effective Elimination Methods

Summer can bring a host of pleasant smells: your neighbor’s dinner grilling in his backyard, freshly cut grass, and the earth after a thunderstorm. But summer heat can also bring smelly scents like sweat and body odor. Body odor masked by strong perfume can be especially pungent.

Dr. Yu Yawen from Shangxi Traditional Chinese Medicine Clinic in Taiwan provides a few practical ways to eliminate odor due to sweating. However, if the odor problem is severe enough, Dr. Hu Yixuan of Jingyan Dermatology Clinic in Taiwan shares four surgery options and their pros and cons.

4 Body Odor Facts

There are two types of sweat glands in the human body: eccrine and apocrine. Spread all over the body, eccrine glands secrete clear, thin sweat and are the primary source of human sweat. Eccrine gland sweat is odorless, but when bacteria on the skin decompose its protein, it produces a nasty, sweaty smell.

Apocrine sweat glands, also called subcutaneous sweat glands, are located primarily in the armpits and genital area and begin functioning during puberty. These glands produce viscous, protein-rich sweat that is initially odorless. However, when the protein in the liquid interacts with certain microorganisms, a powerful body odor will be produced.

There are four facts about body odor:

1. Wet earwax: Apocrine sweat glands are also distributed in the external auditory canal. People with “wet” earwax (wetter rather than flaky or hard) tend to have a higher chance of body odor.
2. Puberty: Most body odor starts in puberty but will reduce gradually after midlife (after 50).
3. Related to diet, stress, and hair volume: The occurrence and intensity of body odor are closely related to diet. People with a lot of armpit hair are also prone to it, as is mental stress.
4. Hyperhidrosis: Body odor usually accompanies hyperhidrosis, which is a condition that causes excessive sweating.

Bad Habits and Diet Increase the Chance of Body Odor

From traditional Chinese medicine’s (TCM) perspective, body odor is related to the accumulation of “damp heat” in the skin caused by bad daily habits.

Yu said that diet is a huge factor in the quality of sweat. Today’s widespread consumption of processed foods has led people to consume many additives, inflammatory food, and refined sugars. TCM believes that these kinds of food cause phlegm dampness, causing fat accumulation, obesity, and even hyperlipidemia and hyperglycemia. Over time, secretions from the pores will become yellow, thick, and strongly smell.

“Phlegm dampness” refers to the imbalance of qi, blood, and body fluids, resulting in abnormal accumulation of fluids often manifested as obesity, abdominal fat, and fatigue. I have a friend who believes that eating onions is good for health, so he eats an onion every day. His family complained of a stench; the smell disappeared when he stopped eating it.

Yu said that onion is rich in sulfur compounds and is usually cooked alongside protein-rich foods such as eggs or meat. When sulfur and ammonia come together, they are more likely to activate the secretion of body glands and aggravate foul odors.

Emotions and Daily Habits Are Also Culprits

Food isn’t the only thing that affects the quality of sweat. Emotions and daily habits are culprits, too. Another friend of mine is not a fan of spicy food, sweets, iced products, meat, or dairy and is used to eating light. No one would expect him to have body odor, yet because he has a habit of staying up late and overthinking, he still smells stinky when he sweats.

Yu said that TCM believes “worry hurts the spleen.” People who brood and overanalyze things can damage the energies of the spleen and stomach. In addition, if they stay up late, the internal organs do not get enough rest. The spleen, lungs, and kidneys are essential motors for the body to metabolize water. If one or two of the viscera are not functioning well, there will be a “damp bathroom” effect. If it remains stuffy for too long and doesn’t air out, the towels in the bathroom will stink. The same is true for the smell of sweat, and even the oily smell of the scalp can become particularly strong, too.

Body Odor Elimination Methods

The first reason for sweating is to detoxify and then regulate body temperature. Treating body odor with commercial antiperspirants or surgical removal of sweat glands is a temporary fix, never a permanent cure, and can cause harm. The body will be forced to find other outlets to compensate.

Yu suggested that TCM has some antiperspirant powders with a heat-clearing effect for people with mild body odor. It can help reduce body odor by absorbing sweat, cleansing, cooling, and providing fragrance. By adding a little fenugreek, sandalwood, yellow lotus, and Scutellaria baicalensis, the naturally strong smell of the Chinese medicinal herbs can be significantly reduced, too.

If body odor still bothers you, before going for Western medicine treatment, you might as well look at other methods to eliminate body odor. Hu said that it was divided into surgical and nonsurgical types. The nonsurgical treatment includes Botox injection, and the surgical treatment includes microwave heat antiperspirant, nerve amputation, and removal of the apocrine gland.

Many people choose to use antiperspirants. The main ingredient is aluminum salts, which deodorize by preventing pores from sweating. But some studies have found that breast cancer patients have high levels of aluminum salts in their breasts. Many antiperspirants also contain questionable preservatives and other additives, which some worry may cause cancer.

Hu said new research has not found much correlation between aluminum salts and breast cancer. However, high doses of aluminum salts have been found to cause neurological damage in animal experiments. Fighting body odor is like drinking water: It is an essential daily routine, but drinking too much will cause water toxification. When done correctly and in appropriate amounts, there should be no cause for concern.

As for preservatives, Hu said that as there is an increasing awareness of preservatives, the quality of ingredients used in preservatives nowadays has improved. The takeaway is that patients should choose a course of treatment that suits them according to the severity of body odor after discussing it with their doctors.

*Note: Some of the Chinese herbs mentioned above may sound unfamiliar, but many can be found in health food and Asian grocery stores.