We are naturally going to use our dominant side more, so the increased activity may produce more sweat and bacteria. If you are right-handed like most of the world, you will use that arm more and produce sweat that leads to molecules that release Organosulfur compounds called Thioalcohols which contain pungent odor.
These glands release a milky fluid when you are stressed and are odorless until they come into contact with bacteria. Hair is particularly prone to trapping bacteria, which is why men are more likely to smell even after showering. In other words, lingering underarm odor is caused by enduring bacteria.
Consuming certain foods and drinks may, therefore, lead to a sudden change in body odor around the armpits. Stress and anxiety can make people sweat more than usual. Sometimes, this can lead to a sudden change in the way the armpits smell. Many different factors can cause what doctors call secondary hyperhidrosis.
Both male and female sweat feature 3-hydroxy-3-methylhexanoic acid and 3-methyl-3-sulfanylhexan-1-ol, but they're not present in equal amounts. The former is the cheesy fragrance that is more abundant in male armpits, while the latter oniony smell is dominant in females.
Apocrine sweat glands are located in the armpits or genital area. When you have apocrine bromhidrosis, body odor is the byproduct of lipid-rich apocrine gland sweat mixing with skin bacteria. When these two ingredients come together, they produce thioalcohols — compounds that smell like sulfur, onions or raw meat.
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.
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.
There are a lot of reasons this can happen, it could be usage of your dominant side or maybe weather, or it could simply be a difference in sweat production. Not all armpits are created equally, but neither are all deodorants.
Hair is another place where bacteria like to hide. If you still smell a strong body odor after a shower, consider shaving the hair in your armpits, groin, and chest. The hair's surface is a perfect place for bacteria to call home, and it's harder to eliminate them from the hair than your bare skin.
A person living with a health condition such as diabetes or kidney disease may also have sweat that smells like ammonia. A person can try antiperspirants to reduce the amount they sweat, and deodorants to cover up any odors. A doctor can treat any underlying health conditions to help reduce the ammonia smell in sweat.
The menopausal drop in estrogen also leaves our bodies with relatively higher levels of testosterone — produced by our ovaries in small amounts — than before. This can attract more bacteria to sweat, making it smell funkier.
Thyroid problems.
Occasionally, an overactive thyroid can also cause body odor. This is because the patient tends to sweat excessively due to the hyper-functioning thyroid gland. This condition can also be ruled out by physical examination and blood studies.
Despite our best efforts to keep them clean, towels often develop a less-than-fresh smell. One of the main causes of this is detergent build-up. Over time, soap residue accumulates in the fibres of the towels, stopping them from absorbing as much water as possible, and from drying as well as they could.
Apocrine bromhidrosis is the most common form of bromhidrosis in adults and is localised, usually to the armpits and/or anogenital area. Eccrine bromhidrosis presents as a generalised malodour, and may be associated with bad breath (halitosis), anogenital odour, and smelly urine.
By the end of the study, researchers concluded that men who removed their armpit hair by waxing it off or shaving it with a razor had the least body odor. Those who simply trimmed their armpit hair had the next smelliest, with the strongest armpit odors coming from those who left their pit hair untamed.
It is not more hygienic to shave pubic hair. Some girls decide to remove it (as a personal preference) but there are no health benefits. In fact, there are risks associated with shaving your pubic hair including: razor burn (rash), redness, itching (from hair growing back), and infection in the hair root.