Sweating may cause body odor due to the presence of the apocrine sweat glands – which is why they are also known as odoriferous sweat glands. The glands start to function when puberty hits.

Initially, the sweat the apocrine glands produce remains odorless, but it develops odor after it gets exposed to bacteria.

Hence, maintaining personal hygiene is necessary to reduce body odor associated with sweat. But before we get to the simple tips to reduce sweat odor, let’s first understand why sweating is good for your health.

Tips To Reduce Sweat Odor

• Add a pinch of camphor to your bathing water.
• You can also add lemon essential oil to your bathing water.
• Wash your undergarments separately in lukewarm water.
• Keep your armpits and pubic area clean. However, do not use vaginal wash regularly as it may cause a pH disbalance.
• If you workout regularly, keep an extra t-shirt and a pair of leggings/shorts in your gym bag.
• Keep a roll-on deodorant in your bag so that you can use it whenever you need to.
• Use alcohol-free deodorants and perfumes.
• Wear clean socks and clean your workout shoes every alternate week.

Research shows that there are many benefits of sweating. And you can reduce the stench by following some simple tips. Read on to know what sweat is, why we sweat, the reason behind sweat odor and how to reduce it, and the benefits of sweating. 

Sweat is the “fluid that exits the body through pores in the skin, usually due to physical stress and/or high temperature for the purpose of regulating body temperature and removing certain compounds from the circulation”

Sweating helps your body to cool down when the body temperature rises. A mix of salt, water, and toxins is excreted in the form of sweat from the sweat glands . Talking about sweat glands, there are two types – eccrine and apocrine.

The eccrine sweat glands are present all over the body and on the soles of the feet. The eccrine sweat glands produce about 500 mL – 750 mL of sweat per day . The apocrine sweat glands are present in the armpits, the nipples and areolar tissue of the breasts, ears, eyelids, and groin area.