Body Odor

[lisasell]

My son is going to be 10 in November and he has a body odor that is so bad, we have to make him shower when he gets home from school.  He uses safguard soap and I know for a fact that he is washing his body.  I don't want him to be made fun of at school because of this odor however, I have made him use deodorant also.  Any suggestions may be helpful.

[Net_Comment]

Ask your son to not use his regular deodorants  instead use the crystal deodorants that contains alum (found in whole foods etc). Remove all deodorant and antiperspirant  build-up in the underarm area by rubbing the area with petroleum jelly and then soaping and washing.

Ask him to scrub his underarm with baking soda (use hand - not wash cloth) - pat  dry,  wipe underarm with alcohol - let dry, wipe with apple cider vinegar - let dry, dust with baking soda. He will not be smelling any more in just one- two application.

At night repeat the process and apply little tea tree oil on the underarms - this will moisturize the skin, and kill the bacteria.

Make sure he is only wearing cotton next to his skin. Check to see if his cotton clothes have trapped bacteria on them by ironing that area - if it smell awful it has bacteria on it. You may need to try different things to find a solution for that. Wash in the hottest water with bleach all his sheets and towels and shirts. As well as the laundry of others in the family as he may have got the bacteria from one of the family members. Keep his towels and toiletries out of the bathroom. Sun his clothes.

Another thing, make sure that when he washes his hair, he bends forward, so that no water or shampoo is falling on his body from his hair. This will prevent any cross contamination from dandruff or oil from the scalp or conditioner etc. Tell him to use a different towel for his hair and another for his body.  This is going to help him with the problem of acne later on in his teenage life.


In addition - you can try the following.

Puree the herb cilantro (buy at local Chinese or Indian grocery to get it cheaply) and parsley and add it to tomato juice in the morning with a little salt and pepper. This really nixes the smell. This is good for acne prevention too has vitamin C, good for eyes and teeth too.

Another very simple remedy is to boil in 4 cups of water - 2 table spoon of cumin seeds, 2 table spoon of Ajwain seeds (I think it is oregano seed?) (get the seeds from Indian groceries as they are very cheap there), when the mixture boils and darkens a bit, let it cool and  drink that in place of water. His odors will stop. This mixture has very little taste - so he should not mind - by the way this is also an excellent tried and tested remedy for all kinds of stomach disorders and takes care of gas, bloating, etc.  Not to be given to infants and babies of course. This is very safe and traditionally given to new moms to drink instead of water in India - to prevent all kind of stomach ailments after delivery for the mom and the nursing baby. Will help in the recovery of stomach flu etc - another beneficial drink for teens to prevent outbreak of acne - since in puberty all the hormones  go haywire and a lot more oil and sweat is produced by all the glands of the body. Hope this helps.

[helper40]

I'm not sure what the second poster was talking about - maybe sweating as opposed to swelling? Your son is probably just hitting puberty a little earlier than some of his friends. I would make him shower in the morning before school so he starts the day fresh and get him antiperspirant instead of deodorant (antiperspirant stops the sweating that causes the odor). Also, watch what he eats. Some kids have a reaction to food that comes out as a weird odor. Make sure he wears fresh clothes every day (I know it's obvious but make sure he knows it, too). Good luck!

[Akbari]

hi, usually odor is because of swelling a lot and it is because of high activity specially in boys and if he is not so active, it shows the hyper activity of sympathic system. on the other hand much swelling is usual in ages near puberty.
but if the odor is not caused by swelling, you should consider metabolic disorder and you should consult with a specialist of glands and metabolism.
I wish it helps!