While sweat in and of itself is odorless, the type of sweat produced in your armpits, feet, and groin smells bad when it combines with bacteria that's already on your skin. That's why frequent bathing or showering with mild soap and warm water is important to rinse sweat off the skin.
Sweat can smell like vinegar because of diseases such as diabetes, trichomycosis, and kidney disease, or because of hormone changes, certain foods, or skin infections. Sweat is released by sweat glands that are found throughout the body. These are the eccrine, apocrine, and apoeccrine glands.
When a certain part of your body smells sour, the most common cause is bacteria. When bacteria is present on your skin and it mixes with sweat, it breaks down the acid in your sweat, resulting in a vinegar-like smell.
Bathe regularly
This may seem obvious, but the easiest way to address extra smelly sweat is to wash it off. Bathing daily (or more often if necessary) with an antibacterial soap may help reduce levels of bacteria on your skin that are reacting to sweat.
Perspiration and bacteria
Bacteria generally cause sour-smelling sweat. Everyone has bacteria on their skin, and when the bacteria start to break down the sweat, it creates an odor. If you run hot at night, causing sweating, try reducing your room temperature or wearing cooler clothing.
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.
The fat-burning process creates a buildup of acids in your blood called ketones, which leads to DKA if untreated. Fruity-smelling breath is a sign of high levels of ketones in someone who already has diabetes. It's also one of the first symptoms that doctors look for when they check for DKA.
BODY ODOR: FRUITY BREATH IS A SYMPTOM OF DIABETES
Credit a complication of diabetes called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), which occurs when your body runs low on insulin and your blood sugar spikes, says Robert Gabbay, M.D., Ph.
Internal health issues may result in unpleasant body odors (BO), as well, such as liver and kidney disease and hyperthyroidism, which can lead to excessive sweat and increased BO. Stagg recommends talking with your doctor if you notice a strong smell from your skin.
Antiperspirants and deodorants aren't just for your armpits. You can also apply them to your groin area to stop excessive sweat or mask the unpleasant odor stemming from your nether regions. Just be careful when applying these products to the sensitive skin around your groin.
“Antiperspirants are considered the first line of treatment for excessive sweating and can be used nearly anywhere on the body where sweating is a problem. That's right, antiperspirants are not just for your underarms – you can use them on your hands, feet, face, back, chest, and even groin.”
Temporary vaginal odor is common and often goes away on its own. Vaginal odor is considered normal if you don't have other symptoms. But if the odor is persistent and you're experiencing burning, itching, discharge, or irritation, it's a good idea to see your doctor for a vaginal exam.
Unfortunately, the groin has lots of sweat glands and thanks to that, can smell like body odor. Your body contains two types of sweat glands, apocrine and eccrine. The eccrine glands produce sweat to cool your body down and the apocrine glands respond to your emotions.
Long pubic hair
Pubic hair holds on to residual urine, vaginal discharge, blood and semen. Bacteria line up all along the hair shaft just lunching it up and creating odor. (Very appetizing, I know.) Trimming your pubic hair reduces that surface area for bacteria, thus reducing odor.
Diabetes can cause cloudy urine when too much sugar builds up in your urine. Your urine may also smell sweet or fruity. Diabetes can also lead to kidney complications or increase risk of infections of the urinary tract, both of which can also make your urine appear cloudy.
A fruity odor to the breath is a sign of ketoacidosis, which may occur in diabetes. It is a potentially life-threatening condition. Breath that smells like feces can occur with prolonged vomiting, especially when there is a bowel obstruction.
Trimethylaminuria is a disorder in which the body is unable to break down trimethylamine, a chemical compound that has a pungent odor. Trimethylamine has been described as smelling like rotten or decaying fish.
Body odor may be a sign of diabetes in some people. It happens when there is too much glucose in the blood. Diabetes is a long-term condition, meaning that there is no cure, but people can manage it.
Hormone imbalances and body odor often go together. Dips in estrogen can trigger hot flashes and night sweats, meaning you simply sweat more, which in turn can result in more odor. This is also a time of life filled with high levels of anxiety or stress, which can make you sweat, too.
“Humans tend to perspire at night,” Dr. Goldenberg said. “When you wake up in the morning, there's all this sweat and bacteria from the sheets that's just kind of sitting there on your skin.” So take a quick shower in the morning, he said, “to wash all of that gunk and sweat off that you've been sleeping in all night.”
Unsurprisingly, a person would develop quite a funk after 365 showerless days. Rokhsar said your stench likely would come as a result of the bacteria and dead skin accumulating on you. After a year, he said, you'd have a build-up of skin stratum corneum, or dead skin on top of your skin.
Tangy or fermented
It's very common for vaginas to produce a tangy or sour aroma. Some compare it to the smell of fermented foods. In fact, yogurt, sourdough bread, and even some sour beer contain the same type of good bacteria that dominate most healthy vaginas: Lactobacilli.