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Sweating is normal during strenuous physical activity and in warm weather. In fact, as we sweat and it evaporates, we actually feel cooler. Unfortunately, for some people sweating is an issue as they ‘appear’ to pour the stuff by the buckets or would start the day with patches of sweat on their under-arms etc. This inevitably leads to body odour.

How to prevent body odour?

Take a shower twice a day or failing that, at least once a day. This helps wash away sweat as well as reduce the number of bacteria on your skin.

Remember, sweat on its own is virtually odourless. But when microscopic bacteria that live naturally on your skin mix with sweat, they multiply quickly and raise quite a stink.

Ensure that you towel off after a bath or shower. Pay close attention to areas where you sweat a lot. Sweat causing bacteria love moist areas…so make it difficult for them to breed.

Use a deodorant or anti-perspirant on your underarms twice a day, in the morning and the evening. Deodorants do not actually prevent sweating, but they mask the smell of bacteria on your skin.

When sweating heavily or in very hot weather, please change your clothes frequently…and be sure to wash those sweaty clothes before wearing them again! Perhaps, a smell more annoying than ‘mere body odour’ is the smell of dried sweat on an outfit! A definite no no! Fresh clothes help keep body odour down.  

And while at it, be sure to change your socks too, especially if you tend to have foot odour. Deodorant powders or detergent based running shoe cleaners used in shoes are useful. 

How to prevent excessive sweating? Well, if this is caused by obesity or stress, treatment would focus on weight loss and stress management techniques respectively. Some other disease conditions can also lead to excessive sweating like Diabetes Mellitus, Tuberculosis etc; but a doctor has to diagnose this as the cause of sweating and then advice on treatment.

Generally though, the tips above are helpful in majority of cases.