Hidden Embarrassments in Social Life: Scientific Prevention and Treatment of Halitosis, Intestinal Odor, and Body Odor

In a more tolerant world, bad breath, belching, rumbling stomachs, body odor, dandruff, earwax, and flatulence will no longer be considered major or minor life problems. However, society doesn't view these odors, sounds, and secretions as normal bodily functions, but rather as something embarrassing. How many tranquil moments have been ruined by the rumbling of your own or your dear friend's stomach? These methods will prevent tooth decay, gum disease, and the resulting bad breath. Approximately 80% of bad breath is caused by poor oral hygiene: rotting food, unclean dentures, decaying teeth, bleeding gums, and plaque-a thin, invisible layer of bacteria on teeth. A thick coating on the tongue can cause a foul odor, especially when the back of the tongue is thickened. Dry mouth can also cause bad breath when suffering from dehydration or a hangover. Oral breathing can also cause bad breath because saliva dries out and cannot wash away gas-producing bacteria. Morning odor is common. Bad breath can also be caused by smoking, emotional distress, and irregular eating habits. Eating onions, garlic, and foods containing fat, sugar, and seasonings can also cause bad breath. If you want to eliminate bad breath, you must forget about mouthwash or mints. They may mask the odor for a few hours, but they don't cure it. The exact way to prevent bad breath is to brush the surface of every tooth, as well as the gums and the back of the tongue, three times a day. To prevent gum disease and remove plaque, clean between your teeth with a toothbrush at least once a day. Most importantly, have a dental checkup every six months so your dentist can clean your teeth and remove plaque and tartar. Bad breath is a close-knit problem, while belching and flatulence are quite different. These two digestive byproducts are often linked. Most belching is caused by swallowing air. The air either returns through the esophagus or enters (and eventually exits) the intestines. Flatulence, or intestinal gas, is most commonly caused by eating gas-producing foods such as broad beans, cabbage, cauliflower, soups, onions, and for a pair of sensitive individuals-milk and dairy products. If you are healthy, you release about one pint to one quart of gas each day. The easiest way to relieve bloating is through exercise. Gas pain caused by the pressure of food mixing and the compressed gas can also be relieved by huddling your knees, squeezing your chest, and rocking back and forth; or by lying face down with a pillow under your stomach. The visceral reaction-rumbling in the stomach-is caused by the sloshing of gas and fluids in the stomach and intestines during digestion. Stress and drinking carbonated beverages exacerbate the problem. Since deodorants first hit the market in the early 20th century, body odor and its sister substance, sweating, have received negative publicity. The value of sweating in cooling, keeping skin moisturized, and maintaining the body's water and electrolyte balance has been underestimated, while myths about body odor have flourished: Myth 1: If you sweat, you will naturally have body odor. Myth 2: Deodorants are needed more in summer than in winter. Myth 3: Antiperspirants are unhealthy because sweating helps eliminate bodily waste. Myth 4: You may have developed a tolerance to a certain deodorant and should switch to a new one periodically. Myth Five: Men need stronger deodorants than women. All of these statements are myths, primarily due to the differences between apocrine and eccrine glands. Myth One is false because sweat from eccrine glands-found all over the body-is odorless. Sweating from apocrine glands-produced in the groin, armpits, soles of the feet, and palms-produces an odor and is triggered by emotional excitement, not heat. Contrary to Myth Two, apocrine sweating is as abundant in winter as in summer. Sweating can cool you down; however, it is not a form of waste excretion as Myth Three suggests. Myth Four is incorrect because deodorants and antiperspirants do not become ineffective. As for Myth Five, apocrine secretions and odor are the same for both sexes. Eccrine sweat is essentially odorless because it contains 99.5% water, the remainder being salts and small amounts of ammonia, sugar, iron, calcium, and potassium. This type of sweat is harmless-known in sports as "exercise sweating." Whenever you feel fear, anxiety, guilt, worry, or excitement, or sometimes for no apparent reason at all, your apocrine glands secrete a milky, grayish-white liquid. This "psychological sweating" is often undetectable, especially when confined to a cool, clean environment. Body odor is caused by thousands of bacteria that thrive on the skin in the dark, damp environment. They feed on the sweat secreted by the apocrine glands, then break it down into smelly deposits that, when dry, form shiny, gelatinous particles. To prevent apocrine gland odor, you can use an antiperspirant to remove the moisture that bacteria need to grow. Wait until your body has cooled down before applying the antiperspirant so it can penetrate the sweat ducts. Because antiperspirants and deodorants cannot remove bacteria that are already present, you must also shower regularly and frequently with deodorizing or antibacterial soap. Besides odor, many people are concerned about how much they sweat. Men generally sweat more than women. White and Black people sweat more than Asians, and athletes sweat more efficiently and profusely than almost anyone else.