Everyone has an occasional case of bad body odour or foul-smelling breath. It’s embarrassing, but easily cured by a quick shower or a swish of mouthwash. But what do you do if the odour persists – or is the problem coming from a more private place? Steps you can take for the prevention of bad body odour? Many body odours are normal, but when they gross you out, that could be a sign of an illness.
What Is Bad Body Odour?
Bad body odour happens when your sweat meets the bacteria on the surface of your skin and makes an unpleasant smell.
Sweating is your body’s way of regulating temperature. While sweat itself is virtually odourless, bacteria use it as a breeding ground and multiply rapidly. What you smell are the products related to the bacteria’s breakdown of keratin protein on the surface of your skin.
Another word for body odour is bromhidrosis.

What Causes It?
Body odour begins at puberty because of rising hormones called androgens. These hormones aren’t active until puberty. That’s why body odour isn’t a problem when you’re a young kid. Once these hormones are active, a few things can make body odour worse, including:
- Heavy exercise.
- Warm or hot weather.
- Being overweight.
- Changes in hormones.
- Certain health conditions, like diabetes, liver disease, or kidney disease.
- Some medications, like antidepressants.
- Diet: Some fatty foods, oils, or strong-smelling foods such as garlic, curry, and onions can seep through your pores and cause body odour.

Where Do I Get Body Odour?
While body odour is usually associated with the armpits, bacteria can also cause odour in the groin, anus area, upper thighs, and feet, among other places. Thoroughly washing your skin with a wet washcloth and soap — especially those areas prone to sweating — can help prevent body odour.
Smelly feet can also cause smelly shoes. Treating your shoes with an over-the-counter deodorizer can help. Also, wear thick, absorbent socks if you can.

Body Odour Prevention
The best way to fight body odour is through prevention. If you want to be odourless, consider the following tips:
- Take a bath or shower every day.
- Wash your clothes regularly and make sure to wear clean ones.
- Try to avoid strong-smelling foods that may seep through your pores.
- Put on an antiperspirant at bedtime. This gives the product a chance to work while you sleep and are not sweating. If you apply antiperspirants after showering in the morning, the sweat you accumulate will wash away the product and render you defenceless against daytime sweating. Remember, deodorants do not prevent sweating. They mainly mask the smell of the sweat on your skin. Antiperspirants are chemical agents that reduce sweating.
- Many antiperspirant preparations also contain a deodorant, which helps to mask the smell. Check the product you use to make sure it contains an antiperspirant as well as a deodorant.
- Keep your underarms dry. Bacteria have a hard time breeding in dry areas of the body. Shaving your underarms regularly will also help prevent the accumulation of bacteria and can reduce sweat and odour.

TCT Nutraceuticals Sdn Bhd is an OEM Skincare manufacturer in Malaysia. An OEM/ODM Factory with an extensive R&D team to formulate your products. We are both Halal and GMP Certified together with ISO 9001.
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