"Everyone's armpits stink."
That's rude.
Not mine.
"Sweating is a good way to detox."
May I have that one?
Go for it.
Ooh, this is a good one.
"Smelly foods only affect your breath."
This is false.
Hi, I'm Dr. Michelle Henry.
I am a board-certified dermatologist
practicing in Manhattan, New York, and I'm the founder
of Skin & Aesthetic Surgery of Manhattan.
Hi, I'm Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali,
board-certified dermatologist here in New York City.
And today we'll be debunking myths about body odor.
Dermatologists are the skin experts.
So who knows more about sweat glands than us?
"Sweat is smelly."
So, this is not true.
So, we actually have two types of sweat.
We have sweat that comes from our eccrine glands,
and so those are the glands that are everywhere,
and it helps us with thermoregulation.
So it helps to cool us down when we're working out
when we're getting too hot.
And then we have apocrine glands.
So those are sweat glands that we see in areas
like the underarms, the groin, the chest,
all of the areas that we sometimes
associate with being smelly.
But the actual sweat from the apocrine glands
does not smell.
Why does that area smell?
It's the bacteria in those areas.
So the bacteria in those areas
will use what the gland produces as food.
And it's the byproduct of that
that actually smells stinky.
That was the most beautiful description
of sweat I've ever heard in my life.
Thank you, I try.
So, fun fact:
There are thousands of types of bacteria
and fungus and yeast
and things like that on your body.
It's completely normal. It's part of our microbiome.
So, some quick tips to remember
to help with the smelly odor.
So, No. 1, it's OK to shower every day, I promise you.
No. 2 is eat a healthy diet.
You know, if your body is not producing at an optimal level,
it will tell you, it will show you,
and you will smell it. If anything becomes excessive,
there are certain medical conditions that do cause it.
It's OK to go check out and make sure.
"Everyone's armpits stink."
That's rude.
Not mine.
That is a myth. There's actually 2% of the population
that has a special mutation.
I believe it's the ABCC11 gene.
They don't have smelly odors.
So not everybody's armpits stink.
There are a lot of different treatments
for treating "smelly armpits."
No. 1, showering.
Using antibacterial soap is probably
the easiest hack for all of it.
We have oral medications we can give,
we can have prescription antiperspirants,
and we even use Botox.
I know, I know, you're going to be thinking,
"Botox? That's for the other stuff."
You actually can use Botox
to minimize the sweating in the area.
It only lasts about three months or so,
so you have to kind of come in regularly,
but often our patients just do it
in the spring or summertime
and then kind of do their own thing during the wintertime,
and usually they're fine.
"Smelly feet mean bad hygiene."
No, this is incorrect.
Smelly feet means smelly feet.
It doesn't mean bad hygiene.
We know that we're producing sweat everywhere
and that sweat then becomes bacteria food.
Well, the feet are a really unique area.
It's one of the highest concentrations
of sweat glands on the body.
And although there are more eccrine glands
than the apocrine glands,
it's still creating a moist environment.
It's the perfect breeding ground for bacteria and yeast.
And because our feet are often enclosed in shoes,
in dark areas, that's literally yeast food.
So this is why we see a lot of fungus
and a lot of yeast on the feet.
And because of this, the feet are going to
be a little bit more prone to having a smell.
Agreed. And it's a very common thing.
We see a lot of our athletes, gym rats,
all those people in between.
The one thing I tell my patients:
Always make sure you wash your feet when you shower.
Using antibacterial soap is actually a great idea.
Just make sure everything is cleansed
and you pat dry as quick as possible
before you put on a pair of fresh socks.
Yes. Socks are important as well.
So wearing cotton socks that are absorptive
and they're going to kind of wick away
that moisture from the feet, that helps a ton.
"Your signature scent never changes."
This is incorrect.
And so, just like we are dynamic beings,
we're changing, our hormones are changing,
our microenvironment's changing,
our diets are changing,
and all of these things play a really critical role
in how we smell. You know?
As we get older and our hormones change,
you know, we all know that teenage boys smell
a little bit different than they smelled when they were 6.
I kind of wish they could put those, like,
new-baby smells in a bottle.
Oh, that would be amazing.
It's best smell ever.
That's my favorite smell.
Remember, a baby's covered in amniotic fluid
for months and months and months and months.
So you have this certain scent
that people equate to that new-baby smell.
Also, as we get older,
our skin barriers tend to deteriorate a little bit
and there's more oxidation
of certain things on our skin itself.
So that "old-person smell," hate to say that,
is actually due to changes in how our skin
is protected from the environment around us,
and the oxidation of these certain chemical compounds
can actually cause a specific scent.
So next time you go visit your grandparents
and things like that, just keep that in mind.
The more you've been around a certain smell,
the more you get used to it, right?
And so it's really when your body
kind of hits up the shock system,
where you smell something you're not used to smelling,
that's when you kind of form an opinion about it.
So just remember,
if there's something you don't necessarily agree with,
does not mean that it's incorrect.
It's just your perception of that odor
and everything kind of going around
that really forms your opinion of it.
"Sweating is a good way to detox."
May I have that one?
Go for it.
I don't like that.
So, this is a huge myth.
So, you know, our body is an amazing machine,
and 99% of how we detox
is through our liver and our kidneys.
And that's why it's really important
to keep those organs very safe.
That's how we get rid of all of the negative toxins
and byproducts in our bodies.
Your body's job is to kind of maintain this equilibrium,
keep this steady state.
And that's what the sweating does.
It helps you kind of keep this normalized temperature.
And so if you do go up too much,
it's its way of bringing it back down.
And while I love a great sauna,
it's amazing for my mental health,
it's amazing for my relaxation,
I know that when I go to a sauna,
I'm not going there to detox.
So it's really important that we understand that.
We have really effective ways to detox our body,
and sweating is not one of them.
How crazy are some of these,
like, the marketing around some of these things?
I mean, it's believable! Sometimes I have to ask myself,
like, "I have to revisit my medical-school books!"
"You won't sweat if you put on deodorant."
Hm.
This is a myth.
So, there is a big difference
between deodorant and antiperspirant.
Deodorant helps to mask the odor.
So it helps to reduce the smell.
Antiperspirants will actually help to reduce sweating.
They contain aluminum-based ingredients
that will clog those pores, those glands,
and help to reduce sweating.
One thing about natural deodorants is that sometimes
they can have a lot of salts and other ingredients
that can be a little bit harsh on the skin.
So sometimes it's a little bit of trial and error
to find the right natural deodorant for you.
Deodorants with ingredients like ceramides
to help to protect and fortify the skin barrier.
Deodorants with ingredients like vitamin B5,
which helps to soothe the skin and reduce inflammation.
Ingredients like coconut oil,
which also can help to kind of soothe the skin.
Use it for two weeks and decide if it's good for you or not.
The idea becomes, once you find a good deodorant,
stick to it. If you keep switching things up
and moving things, you're going to have
more of an inclination for having a reaction
or having some issue with tolerability.
And here's a fun hack for you.
If you're using an antiperspirant,
you can actually put it on at nighttime
to get a better overall result
and less sweating throughout the course of your day.
Henry: At nighttime, our sweat glands are not as active,
so that those aluminum-based ingredients
can actually clog the pores a little bit better.
Put it on during the day when you're already active,
then something's blocking them
and they can't really settle as well as they can at night.
"Antiperspirant is dangerous."
So, what do you do when you hear all these people
say that aluminum causes cancer
and it's dangerous and all that kind of stuff?
Yes. So I give them a little science lesson.
So, the presence of an ingredient
does not necessarily mean causation.
For instance, during the winter months,
I start drinking tea. It makes me feel warm.
I also tend to get colds in the winter months.
Does that mean the warm tea caused my cold?
So the presence of something or the correlation
does not always mean causation.
So, what we see is that when we biopsy breast tissue,
breast tissue that's in the area around the underarm,
which is a common area where we do see breast cancer,
we will see aluminum there in that tissue.
It's there because it's adjacent
to where we're using aluminum-containing ingredients.
However, currently we do not have data
showing that it causes cancer.
And while many feel that they're uncomfortable with that,
they can choose to use other options.
But right now we do not have data showing
that aluminum-containing ingredients
specifically contribute to breast cancer.
So, why aluminum?
Well, aluminum is currently the only FDA-approved
antiperspirant ingredient.
That's not to say that there aren't
other alternatives out there for you
if you're more comfortable choosing them.
But it's just always important to educate yourself
and continue to monitor the data moving forward.
And part of our job as doctors
is to understand where the fear comes from
and then look for alternatives, right?
Really, you should only do what's comfortable for you
and what you feel you're OK doing on a day-to-day basis.
So if you block all the sweating from the armpit area,
do you sweat in other places more?
Well, that is another common question.
I get that a lot when we do Botox in those areas.
The truth is we have so many sweat glands
that it kind of just distributes evenly.
And so the idea becomes, again,
the sweat does come out at some point somewhere.
We just minimize the amount in an area
where the bacteria might be feeding on it
to create more of the odor or the scent.
Ooh, this is a good one.
"Smelly foods only affect your breath."
False. So, we know that foods can affect your breath,
but it can also affect your body.
We know that some of those foods,
especially those cruciferous foods,
like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli,
can affect how we smell overall.
That produces sulfuric acid.
So that's similar to that rotten-egg smell
that we all know. And the same with red meat.
There are some studies showing
that those that eat a lot of red meat
may smell a little bit different.
Eating lots of fish will produce a byproduct
called trimethylamine.
That's right? Trimethylamine. Bhanusali: Impressive.
And so that's a very characteristic smell.
Alcohol produces acetic acid, which you can also smell.
Then we do excrete components of our food,
which then will interact with the bacteria,
and we will smell differently because of that.
So there might be certain foods
that might alter your smell in some way, shape, or form,
but just remember, always have a healthy, balanced diet,
and don't let the scent of what may come afterwards
dictate any part of that.
As a girl who loves cauliflower pizza
and all things cauliflower,
I have yet to let that cruciferous smell
keep me from eating it. I don't think I smell. No?
Bhanusali: No, not at all. Henry: Thank you.
But listen, cauliflower pizza?
No joke, that is so good. Henry: No joke.
Generally, I've learned in life,
everybody is different, and it's OK to accept that.
I think what we're highlighting
more than the fact that this smell is good or bad
is that this smell is different.
To someone else, it smells like home.
It smells like all the goodness that they know.
And so we need to always keep that perspective
when we encounter new people and new environments,
because it's a personal experience.
I like that idea of smelling like home.
I'd like you guys to take away
that being a little stinky sometimes is normal.
It's a part of being a human.
It's a part of the human experience.
Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others.
But also, if you find that it's outside
of what's normal for you, talk to your dermatologist.
Talk to your family physician.
Figure out what's going on. But give yourself grace,
because we're all a little stinky sometimes.