How To Stage A BO (Body Odor) Intervention
Yuck!! Do you know someone with really bad body odor? Do you have to work next to them? Is it a good friend?
Bad BO is something that everyone has come across at one time or another. Usually it comes from someone you don’t know that you meet casually through other people. Most people simply cross these nose offenders off the potential friends list or the datable list and move on. But if you know and love someone who is going through a killer whiff phase in their life, then you might just have to stage an intervention!
What is BO and what causes it?
First, you have to know what you’re up against. Millions and millions of little bacteria. They exist everywhere and on everyone, and generally they’re harmless. As we reach puberty a special set of sweat glands called apocrine glands become very active. The apocrine glands are located under your arms and around the pubic region. They are larger and produce sweat that has more fatty material in it than the other type of sweat gland (eccrine glands).
The bacteria on your skin love apocrine gland sweat and they jump in and start breaking it down. It’s this interaction between the bacteria and apocrine secretions that causes BO. Bacteria love warm, moist places, so when you’re active or stressed and your body temperature goes up then the bacteria become more active too.
There are other factors that can contribute to bad body odor. Some people sweat more than others because of simple heredity or because of various medical conditions that stimulate their glands into overactivity. Drinking hot beverages, caffeinated coffee, or eating spicy foods can also make you sweat more.
How to tame BO
There are a number of things that you can do to wrestle down a serious body odor problem:
- Watch what you eat and drink. Stay away from caffeine, hot beverages, and spicy foods
- Get regular exercise. Sweating is one of the body’s ways of regulating temperature. You sweat so that as it evaporates, it helps cool you. The better physical shape you’re in, the less strenuous any activity will be and the less you’ll sweat under normal everyday circumstances.
- Use antiperspirant or deodorant. Antiperspirant is not as popular as it once was because it blocks your pores and your body needs to sweat if it’s overheated. Deodorants stop the odor by stopping the bacteria. There are also natural deodorants you can use such as mineral salt crystals or a 50/50 mixture of baking soda and cornstarch mixed with a few drops of essential oils.
- Showering regularly. And give extra attention to the problem areas by lathering up the soap thickly and letting it sit for five or ten minutes before rinsing. Sometimes a quick shower just is not enough, and the fact that the water rinses off the soap as soon as you lather it up if you don’t stay away from the shower head could contribute to BO a problem.
Staging a BO intervention
If you have to deal with a problem - someone else’s problem - then the best thing to do is to say something. It can be an embarassing problem and some tact and compassion are necessary. The easiest way to address someone with BO is with a combination of humor and seriousness. Strangers or casual acquaintances should be nowhere around. This is best handled by trusted friends or family.
The easiest angle to approach the subject is to remark on how ripe they smell and then quickly attribute this to how hard they’ve been working or how stressed they’ve been lately. Encourage them to take some time to relax and clean up a bit before they burn themselves out.
If you’re going to put a problem on the table, you better bring a solution. Your first approach might get brushed off, so come back with a stick of deodorant or something really cool like some mineral salt crystals and let them know that they’re going to need this little gift if they don’t plan to stop and smell the roses once in awhile. If you have to ratchet up the pressure, you might joke that you can’t be their friend or you’ll kick them out of the family if they don’t get it together.
If you have to break the BO news to someone that you don’t really know that well, that can be difficult. One option is to send them an anonymous email through youhavebo.com. Youhavebo requires at least 2 people to sign up and submit a notification. They will then send a fun and anonymous notification email to the odor offender, and hopefully they’ll get the message.
If your dog stinks … well you can’t really send your dog an anonymous email can you?! OC Register has some helpful tips on combatting obnoxious doggy odors.
