Effective Ways To Get Rid Of Underarm Odor Permanently
Underarm odor is like a weird byproduct that can really overwhelm you and make you self-conscious. It is commonly experienced by many people even though most people have dealt with it before. Many times you have to be embarrassed in front of people due to the bad smell of your underarm and the discomfort increases a lot for the people standing nearby. There can be many reasons behind this such as workout, stress, diet, and genetic hormone imbalance.
You can opt for some natural remedies to get rid of underarm odor which may ease some of your worries. While antiperspirants are a quick fix they do not provide you with long-term results. However, it is also important to know why our smelly armpits.
What Causes Underarm Odor?
Special sweat glands cover most parts of our body, which are called ‘Eccrine’ sweat glands. They secrete water which is odorless. There are other types of sweat glands in our body, which are called ‘apocrine’ sweat glands. These glands are located in areas that have a lot of hair follicles, such as the groin and armpits. Out of these, an oily compound emerges. These glands become more active in high stress, fear, anxiety, pain, and sexual excitement.
The oily secretions coming out of these glands do not have any smell, but they are food for the bacteria living on our skin. Bacteria convert this sweat into fatty acids and make compounds that smell.
Apocrine sweat glands usually do not become active until puberty. That’s why when we are young, we don’t feel anything like bad breath. Along with the formation of hormones, this smell also changes.
Home Remedies For Underarm Odor
How to manage underarm smell, To answer your question, we have a few home remedies for smelly underarm.
Alum
Take a piece of alum and dip it in water. Now rub the alum on the smelly part of the skin and keep it like this. Alum has high antiseptic and antibacterial properties; Applying alum on the skin removes foul odor and kills odor-causing bacteria. This home remedy is one of the home remedies for smelly armpits. To kill the bacteria the alum benefits may help.
Apple cider vinegar
Get a small bowl of apple cider vinegar and dip a cotton ball in the vinegar. Squeeze a cotton ball filled with vinegar onto the skin causing the odor and rub the vinegar in.
Vinegar lowers the pH of the skin and normalizes the environment of the skin. Vinegar has highly acidic properties, applying it to the odor-causing skin kills odor-causing bacteria and does not leave an unpleasant body odor. Apple cider Vinegar is a well-known odor remover, and regular use of apple cider vinegar helps prevent bacterial growth in the underarms.
Lavender oil
Add a few drops of lavender essential oil to a glass of water. Now put this mixture in a spray bottle and then spray it on your underarms. Sometimes lavender essential oil can be mixed with carrier oil if desired.
Lavender oil is used for a variety of skin and health problems. Antibacterial properties are found in it, which can eliminate the bacteria in the underarms. At the same time, its pleasant fragrance can help in relieving armpit odor. On this basis, lavender essential oil can be used as an alternative to getting relief from the bad smell of the underarms.
Rock salt
You can use rock salt to remove the smell of sweat. Just for this, you have to mix rock salt in the bath water till it dissolves completely. After this take bath in this water. Rock salt gives relief from the problem of excessive sweating.
Witch hazel
Witch hazel is a natural deodorant that can be used as a remedy for underarm odor. In fact, in research, it is believed that astringent (skin tightening) and antibacterial (destroying bacteria) effects are found in witch hazel.
Take a few drops of witch hazel in a cotton ball and apply it to your underarms. Using witch hazel can provide relief from the bacteria that cause bad odor in the underarms. Also, by reducing the size of the pores, it can also slow down the process of sweating.
Taking daily showers with soap
We do not clean our underarms properly. When we take a bath, it is not enough to apply just a little soap every day. Our underarms are one of the sweatiest parts of our body, hence the accumulation of dead skin cells and dirt on our body is high. Exfoliating your underarms (removing dead cells from the surface of the skin) is extremely important. Exfoliate your underarms with a mild body scrub twice a week.
Conclusion
To prevent underarm odor from developing in the first place, you may want to shower daily with soap, wear loose-fitting, breathable clothing such as cotton, linen, and moisture-absorbing blends, remove hairs, control your stress response, and use an antiperspirant or deodorizing spray may help manage underarm odor in the body.