Smell every part of your clothing and look for wet spots where you've been sweating. Sweat usually means you've become a love environment for bacteria growth, and bacteria is what gives off the stench. Go by the golden rule of body odor: If you can smell any odor on yourself at all, others can smell it a lot more.
So, all you have to do is mosey into your office's kitchen, and take a quick whiff of some black coffee (and/or coffee beans). This should reset your nose, so if you do have a bit of a smell, it will be more obvious to you.
It's completely normal to have a natural body odor and isn't necessarily related to how much you sweat. Sweat itself is odorless. Some medical conditions, genetics, being overweight or eating certain foods could make you more susceptible to bad body odor.
Bromidrophobia may be the result of today's emphasis on cleanliness that has led us to believe that bodily scents are dirty or taboo. This mental health issue can lead to an unhealthy obsession with ensuring that our regular odors are removed or masked. Bromidrophobics can also have a fear of others' body odors.
By definition, people with ORS have a distorted perception of how they smell. ORS isn't a problem with how the person actually smells; it's a problem with how they perceive themselves. Most people with ORS think that their view of how they smell is definitely or probably accurate.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - To most people, believing you smell when you don't would probably seem like less of a problem than oozing a foul BO without noticing. But for those suffering from olfactory reference syndrome -- a false belief that you smell bad -- the delusion can have serious consequences.
Certain food, drugs and medical conditions may also cause body odor. If you have severe body odor or a change in body odor, see your doctor. Your doctor can look for what's causing it and then talk to you about treatment options.
The problem is that it's very difficult to detect your own body odor because your olfactory systems are desensitized to your particular aromas, says Pamela Dalton, Ph. D., M.P.H., at the Monell Chemical Senses Center.
What causes the unpleasant smell is the bacteria that build up on your sweaty skin and react with sweat and oils to grow and multiply when sweat reacts with bacteria on the skin. These bacteria break down proteins and fatty acids, causing body odor in the process.
Go by the golden rule of body odor: If you can smell any odor on yourself at all, others can smell it a lot more. Put on more deodorant, use wet wipes to give yourself a quick cleanup, put on a change of clothes, or if all else fails, rub some hand sanitizer on your pits until you can fix the problem.
“Basically, your nose goes numb to your own stank so you don't go mad.” It's the same reason why you can't smell your own home: Your sense of smell is quick to adapt and slow to reset.
Often sufferers fall into depression and shut out the world because of their stench. But doctors say the stench is entirely in their head. Instead of a glandular problem, these people actually suffer from Olfactory Reference Syndrome (ORS).
You should tell someone they smell if you genuinely believe it is in their best interest. In many professional and personal settings, smelling bad can negatively impact someone's opportunities for building relationships or networking.
ODOR AFTER A SHOWER IS DUE TO LINGERING BACTERIA
In addition to bacteria, oftentimes there is deodorant residue and other impurities that are trapped in the underarm pores and within the hair if you have armpit hair.
In fact, according to research published in Nature, your nose can detect about one trillion smells! But your own underarms could reek and you might not be able to tell: Humans are prone to what scientists call olfactory fatigue; our sense of smell just gets plain tired out by familiar odors and stops detecting them.
Body odor is caused by bacteria breaking down the sweat from the apocrine glands in your armpits, groin, and pubic area. You may be more prone to body odor if you are overweight, eat certain foods, have certain health conditions, or are under stress. Genetics may also play a role.
However, unlike antiperspirant, deodorant does not block sweat. Thus, the potential mingling of sweat and bacteria might lead to unexpected odors even after deodorant has been applied.
Just rinsing the body with water will improve the body odor. Additionally, using a good shower gel, fragrant lotions, maintaining freshness deodorants, and classy perfumes are what make the skin stay fresh and smelling good for longer.
A distinctive unpleasant smell emanating from the body could be a huge source of embarrassment. While most people associate it with personal hygiene or lack thereof, these smells could be your body's way of alerting you that something is not right, and needs to be checked with a professional at the earliest.
Anxiety Can Create Smells
They've simply grown self-conscious of their scent and assume that they smell poorly all the time. They even smell themselves and any time they smell anything even remotely bad, they assume everyone else can smell it too and experience anxiety as a result.
So even if you do not notice a change in the amount of sweat you produce when anxious, it is entirely possible that your sweat is subtly increasing. When you sweat more, you smell more - even when you're not sweating. Sweat creates an environment that is more prone to bacterial overgrowth.