The Truths and Myths About Sweat

Everyone's armpit stink it's rude not

mine.

Sweating is a good way to detox may I

have that one go for it

this is a good one smelly foods only

affect your breath this is false hi I'm

dr michelle Henry I'm a board certified

dermatologist practicing in Manhattan

new york and i'm the founder of skin and

aesthetic surgery of manhattan hi I'm dr

devil Bonacelli a 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 e-crying 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 apricorn glands so those are

sweat glands that we see in areas like

the underarms the groin the chest all

the areas that we sometimes associate

with being smelly but the actual sweat

from the African 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 number one it's okay to

shower every day I promise your number

two 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's

okay to go check out and make sure

everyone's armpits stink it's rude not

mine

that is a myth there's actually two

percent of the population that has a

special mutation I believe it's the bcc

11 gene they don't have smelly odors so

not everybody's armpits stink there are

a lot of different treatments for

treating quote unquote smelly armpits

number one you know 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 like 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 summer time and then kind of

do their own thing during the winter

time and usually they're fine smelly

feet mean bad hygiene no this is

incorrect smelly feet means smelly feet

doesn't mean bad hygiene we know that

we're producing sweat everywhere and

that sweat then becomes bacteria food

well the feet are really a unique area

it's one of the highest concentrations

of sweat glands on the body and although

there are more kinds of acrylic glands in

the African glands and still creating a

moist environment is 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 quickly 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

lick 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

micro environments changing our diets

are changing and all 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 six and I

wish they could put those like new baby

smells in a bottle oh that would be

amazing

that's my favourite smell remember babies

covered in amniotic fluid for months and

months and months and months 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 I hate to say that

it's 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 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 a 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

you may 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 the negative toxins and

byproducts in our bodies your body's job

is to kind of maintain this equilibrium

keep the steady state and that's what

the sweating does it helps you kind of

keep this normalized temperature and so

if you 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 Asana 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 if I have to revisit my

medical school books

you won't sweat if you put on deodorant

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 you know

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

here's a fun hack for you if you're

using an antiperspirant you can actually

put it on at night time to get a better

overall result and less sweating

throughout the course of your day at

night time 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 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 you know 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 are 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 okay doing on a

day-to-day basis so if you block all the

sweating from the armpit area do you

sweat in other places better 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 so

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 oh this is a good one smelly foods

only affect your breath falsely 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 that's 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

trimethalosaurus and so that's a very

characteristic smell alcohol produces

acetic acid which you can also smell and

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 not at all

listen cauliflower pizza no joke

so good generally i've learned in life

everybody is different and it's okay to

accept that i think what we're

highlighting more than the fact that the

smell is good or bad is that the 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 the 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

Sweating is a good way to detox, may I have that one? Go for it.

This is a good one. Smelly foods only affect your breath. This is false.

Hi, I'm Dr. Michelle Henry, a board-certified dermatologist practicing

Hi, I'm Dr. Devlin Bonacelli, a board-certified dermatologist here in New York City. Today, we'll be debunking myths about body odor. Dermatologists are the skin experts, so who knows more about sweat glands than us?

Myth: Sweat is smelly.

So, this is not true. We actually have two types of sweat. We have sweat that comes from our eccrine glands, which are everywhere in our body, and it helps with thermoregulation, cooling us down when we're working out or getting too hot. Then we have apocrine glands, which are located in areas like the underarms, groin, and chest, associated with being smelly. But the actual sweat from apocrine glands does not smell. It's the bacteria in those areas that utilize the sweat as food, and the byproduct of that process is what smells.

Question: Why does that area smell?

It's the bacteria in those areas that feed on what the gland produces, creating the odor.

Fun fact: There are thousands of types of bacteria, fungus, and yeast on our bodies. It's normal and part of our microbiome. Here are some quick tips to help with smelly odor:

It's okay to shower every day.

Maintain a healthy diet as your body's odor can reflect your overall health.

If anything becomes excessive, there may be certain medical conditions to investigate.

Myth: Everyone's armpits stink, except mine.

That is a myth. There are about two percent of the population who have a special mutation (ABCC11 gene) and don't have smelly armpits. Not everyone experiences unpleasant body odor.

Treatment for smelly armpits:

Shower regularly with antibacterial soap.

Oral medications, prescription antiperspirants, or botox injections can be used to minimize sweating.

Myth: Smelly feet mean bad hygiene.

Incorrect. Smelly feet simply mean smelly feet. Sweat is produced throughout our body, and the feet have a high concentration of sweat glands. The moist environment created by sweat provides an ideal breeding ground for bacteria and yeast. Wearing cotton socks and washing feet with antibacterial soap can help mitigate the odor.

Myth: Your signature scent never changes.

Incorrect. Just like our bodies, our hormones, microenvironments, diets, and aging can all affect how we smell. Hormonal changes, aging, and changes in our skin barrier can contribute to different scents.

Myth: Sweating is a good way to detox.

This is a huge myth. While sweating helps regulate body temperature, 99% of detoxification occurs through the liver and kidneys. Sweating is not an effective method for detoxification.

Myth: You won't sweat if you put on deodorant.

This is a myth. Deodorant masks odor, while antiperspirants reduce sweating by clogging pores. Natural deodorants may contain harsh ingredients, so finding the right one for your skin may require some trial and error. Applying antiperspirant at night can yield better results.

Myth: Antiperspirant is dangerous.

The presence of aluminum in antiperspirants has raised concerns about its potential link to cancer.