Body Odor

 

BO, Rankness, reek, stench. Sound familiar? If you are a teenager, it should. Nowadays in high school all over, and even in middle schools now, the smell of body odor is commonly known. Or should I say smelled?

Is there something different going on in the school districts? Are they feeding us something that makes us smell? Not exactly. While the food we eat does sometimes affect the way we smell, the school food is not doing this, unless it’s your breath. I know, you wish it was so that we could blame yet another bad thing on the school, but no. They aren’t completely out to humiliate us.

Truth is, there is a lot more going on in kids’ lives today than there was years ago. We are busier, and have more stress. Stress sweat is known to have the most odor of all sweats. Why is this? Well, it has to do a lot with the chemicals released while stressing over something rather than the regular sweat we perspire while participating in an event.

Sometimes we cannot help the fact that we have sweat through our deodorant. Other times, we can. For example: On a normal school day, why do people smell like a skunk in the hallways? I would like to blame it either on the family of the child not pressuring the child enough to wear deodorant and keep up with their hygiene, or purely on the laziness of current generations.

Let’s be honest. If we lived in a different time period, women wouldn’t be seem without gloves, nor men without their pocket watches. So at what point did we decide that deodorant wasn’t a necessary thing to have when going out in public? Was it when public schools decided it was okay to wear pajama or sweat pants to school? Or maybe when dry shampoo was invented so that we thought it was okay not to shower.

All I know is that I am recently finding more and more people that smell like body odor in the halls of my school. What are some ways to help prevent this smell? Let me help! Make a routine every morning. You could even make a list and post it on something you look at every morning (like a mirror) if you feel you would forget to stick to the routine. Have a check list you go through before you leave the house of all the things you need before you leave. Put deodorant on those lists! It may sound pointless now, but let me tell you, when I first started to smell in middle school that list made my life a whole lot easier, and less embarrassing!

If the list doesn’t prove helpful make an emergency kit to keep in your car or backpack. Some ideas of objects to keep in it are hand sanitizer, breath mints, a comb, deodorant, body spray, pain reliever, and body lotion. Believe it or not, this kit can really be a lifesaver!

Have a buddy you can trust and aren’t embarrassed in front of to be there to remind you or even tell you when you start to smell to other people. It is a fact that some people cannot smell their own body odor. To have someone else there to count on can definitely help you during those times when your nose doesn’t pick it up.

If none of these methods work for you, or you have used them successfully and you still smell you can go to a doctor and talk about a product that can help reduce the intensity of your body odor. There are many things that can be a help, even if you don’t think they would be of use.

For now, just hang in there if your school smells like mine. It should get better with time. There are subtle hints you can use to tell a peer that they need to check up on their deodorant usage. If that doesn’t work there is always the method of using something that smells good to hold by you while you are by the person who smells. This is a savior especially if you do not feel comfortable saying anything or if it is against their religion. Good luck with the lovely body odor of the current generations we live with. May your smell be ever in your favor.

 

-Hangin’ from a clothesline

subpost: Synonyms courtesy of word hippo @ http://www.wordhippo.com/what-is/another-word-for/body_odor.html