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Suggest Treatment To Eliminate Body Odor

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Posted on Mon, 22 Jun 2015
Question: My daughter is experinecing bod odour recently, she is 15 yrs old
Maintians a healthy & hygenic life style, takes bath twice, uses cologne etc
Please guide if there is any meadical reason for the same & suggest treatment
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Answered by Dr. Dr. Kakkar (40 minutes later)
Brief Answer:
Measures to reduce body odour

Detailed Answer:
Hello. Thank you for writing to us.

I have gone through your query in detail and i have understood your concern.

Body odour is commonly due to bacterial action on human sweat. Sweat produced from apocrine sweat glands, which are present in areas like underarm region, breast and groins is acted upon by bacteria to produce an offensive body odour.
Body odour is worse if there are more bacteria present or the level of apocrine sweat production is high.
This happens only after puberty, such as in her case, as the apocrine glands are not active until puberty is reached.

I suggest her to practice certain general measures like...

1. Apart from maintaining a good hygeine and bathing twice daily she may use an antibacterial soap for bath.
Reducing bacterial population on skin would reduce production of odoriferous breakdown products due to bacterial action on human sweat.
2. Regular shaving or trimming of body hair (e.g. armpits) would reduce sweat accumulation as well as reduce bacterial growth.
3. Certain foods like garlic and hot spices, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine etc can also lead to body odour. She may avoid these.
4. She may use a dusting powder on body/ torso to keep dry.
5. Specifically for underarm region i would suggest that she use a deodorant Or an antiperspirant lotion e.g drysol which contains aluminium chloride hexahydrate 20%. This would help both ways by reducing sweating as well as reducing bacterial growth.

Regards
Note: Hope the answers resolves your concerns, however for further guidance of skin related queries consult our Dermatologist.Click here to book a consultation

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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Answered by
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Dr. Dr. Kakkar

Dermatologist

Practicing since :2002

Answered : 9612 Questions

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Suggest Treatment To Eliminate Body Odor

Brief Answer: Measures to reduce body odour Detailed Answer: Hello. Thank you for writing to us. I have gone through your query in detail and i have understood your concern. Body odour is commonly due to bacterial action on human sweat. Sweat produced from apocrine sweat glands, which are present in areas like underarm region, breast and groins is acted upon by bacteria to produce an offensive body odour. Body odour is worse if there are more bacteria present or the level of apocrine sweat production is high. This happens only after puberty, such as in her case, as the apocrine glands are not active until puberty is reached. I suggest her to practice certain general measures like... 1. Apart from maintaining a good hygeine and bathing twice daily she may use an antibacterial soap for bath. Reducing bacterial population on skin would reduce production of odoriferous breakdown products due to bacterial action on human sweat. 2. Regular shaving or trimming of body hair (e.g. armpits) would reduce sweat accumulation as well as reduce bacterial growth. 3. Certain foods like garlic and hot spices, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine etc can also lead to body odour. She may avoid these. 4. She may use a dusting powder on body/ torso to keep dry. 5. Specifically for underarm region i would suggest that she use a deodorant Or an antiperspirant lotion e.g drysol which contains aluminium chloride hexahydrate 20%. This would help both ways by reducing sweating as well as reducing bacterial growth. Regards