Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: MayoFlyFarmer on 19/03/2004 23:54:22
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Ok I got this in my head while reading in the thread "sweaters"...
There is a common phenomenon known very well amongst campers/backpackers etc. that if one is on a trip where they have no access to bathing whatsoever and they shower right before going into the woods/mountains/name your destination, but DO NOT put on deoterant they will imediately build up a SLIGHT odor, that then goes away after apox. 1 day, and then can go indefinately w/o bathing or "deotorizing" and build up virtually no stench.
However if one puts on deoterant and does not wash it off before embraking on their journey, they will stay "fresh" for the duration that their deotorant lasts, but once it wears off they begin to build up a very noticable odor that seems to get worse and worse for up to ~one week, before begining to go away, in which case they join the trend of the first group.
Anyone have any biochemical insights into this matter? (or funny BO stories? [:p])
Yar, the flies be everywhere!!!
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So then, if you never ever wear deodorant, you won't stink after one day? I've never heard of that, and not sure that I want to test it.
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yeah, you build up just an average days worth of BO (which whenyou're on the trail you barely even notice) and then after about a day even that kinda fades away
Yar, the flies be everywhere maty....save yerselves!!!
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I don't know about that theory, but personally, I think that BO is better than most of the deodorants on the market.
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.
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Mayo....I think I can smell your pits from here mate !! Just out of interest what's the average number of flys you farm ?...they must be bery difficult to milk[:D]....oh, that's such a stupid joke I wish I never said it !!!!!!...sorry[:o)]
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'
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well since you asked... i have aproximately 6,00 vials of flys each with anywhere from 20-150 flies. I'm currently making a data base of all of them so in ohh.... say about 6 months [:(] I can give you a more specific answer. I guess I'm not technically a farmer since I'm not milking them (although you'd think with my wisconsin upbringing I'd be able to find a way to). But I am a chef, resturaunt host, pimp, anethstesiologist, optomistrist, gynocologist, child services representative, mortician, exictioner, and soon I will be learning to give the little guys their booster shots [:D]. So farmer just incompases all of them.
Ok I'm lying I just have such bad BO from not wearing deoterant that I have flies following me around everywhere and I pretend that its my job[:o)]
Yar, the flies be everywhere maty....save yerselves!!!
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Has anyone have any ideas how to tackle a personal odour problem with someone in work?
I spoke with this person last year about it and it seemed to improve for a while, but it was a very uncomfortable conversation and he was very upset as he had no idea. I don't wish to be cruel but the guy stinks and I've had complaints from other team members.
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You could talk to him about taking chlorophyll or you could keep an open dish of vinegar near him to absorb the odor.
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Seems to me TG, any way you approach him will be upsetting. Perhaps it's a condition rather than a hygeine prob, cos I understand that there are such things as overactive sweat glands etc...however, if it's just really bad B O I suppose an anonymous letter left on his desk perhaps, or you could leave him a bar of soap on his chair !! or just come out with it and tell him, after all his 'condition' is affecting your workplace. I just don't think there is an easy way to deal with it except to be diplomatically as delicate as you can. Sorry, I don't envy you your task....however, if you have his email address I'll happily send him an anonymous one to tell him to take a bath !!!
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'
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lol thanks Neil, I'll keep that in mind.
Donnah, does the vinegar really work? I've never heard of that before.
I think that I am just going to have to bite the bullet and discuss the problem with him again. I think that there are a combination of problems, including not washing his clothes and when he does I don't think they dry properly as he often smells like BO and stale laundry. I think I was kind of hoping for a miracle answer which wouldn't involve me having to have the conversation. Thanks for your input, I'll let you know how I get on.
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hmmm.... maybe see some of the threads in general science (and other categories I'm sure if you do a search) regarding telepathy, mind reading, sonar powers, etc.you might find your magic answer there. Otherwise a clothes pin on the nose works nicely (thats my Mr. NonConfrontational answer).
Cut me some slack I'm new around here!
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TG, yes the vinegar works. I have a theory about this guy. Does he have a sweet tooth, candy on his desk, that sort of thing?
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Actually Donnah now you have asked that I don't think that I have ever seen him eat anything, everyone else snacks at their desk, never noticed that before.
He's a very slight build and smokes quite a bit but I think he's fairly healthy, very rarely has time off. He's got pretty bad teeth so maybe he does have a sweet tooth just not while in work.
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Bad teeth can make a person stink because of the bacteria, or toxicity in the case of a mouthful of amalgams. Also, if his teeth hurt he may not be able to eat properly. In any case liquid chlorophyll would likely help in many ways.
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I didn't read all the posts but probably the reason you think the BO went away after a day is because you got used to the smell ...
Am I dead? Am I alive? I'm both!
(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.stupid-boy.com%2Fsmilies%2Fkao%2Fotn%2Fcat.gif&hash=e4b91a72c020cc1c5d28487fff5428f1)
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but that doesn't explain why people who wear deotorant into the woods smell so bad though.
BOW DOWN TO THE LORD OF THE FLIES!!!!
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A switch from Salmonella and eggs to smelly pits...but it's still alot to do with bugs...
The generation of odour in the armpits, like other parts of the body, such as feet, is an exercise in microbial ecology. Basically, bacteria can colonise the area, break down substances produced in that area by your body and make smelly chemicals. The types of bugs, the substances you produce, and the activity of the bugs on those substances dictate just how smelly you get. I remember some years ago, seeing some pictures from a study using the electron microscop, showing smell-generating bugs attached to the hairs in armpits (not suggesting definitively though that hairy pits generate more odour, but the bugs do have more to hold on to...).
What about the deodorant angle? Not 100% about this, but an educated, ecological guess suggests that deodorant might have a 'cleansing' effect on the microbial flora of the 'pit. By clearing out most of the flora while active, then wearing off, perhaps the primary colonisers, the first bugs to come back, might be string odour makers. Just a thought, but I can see a VERY intersting project in this...
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The project might be interesting, but the testing would be h*ll.
Last year my son had a pair of sandals that he wore all the time and by the end of the summer, they smelled so bad I wouldn't let him ride in my car with them on (they got to ride in the trunk). His feet didn't smell too bad without them, and not at all if I could get him to take a shower. I took pleasure in finally throwing the sandals away! I've heard of that with shoes, but not sandals.
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.
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Tweener, I hate to admit it, but I'm wearing sandals and they do smell. Basically, it's the same issue as with 'pits. This prompts me to add that many of the 'smelly bugs' do better, both in terms of growth and smell production when there is a lack of oxygen. So, if wearing something that allows feet to 'breathe' better, then the generation of smell is likely (STRESS likely) to be less. With sandals, even though they are mostly open, the base of the foot is in contact with a material that may not breathe. It might also be that the material of construction of footwear more or less supports the development of a 'film' of bugs on the sandal (for example) and also more or less retains odour chemicals.
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I think the thing with sandals is that one (normally) doesn't wear socks with them so there is nothing to wick the moisture away from the foot.
Lift your skinny fists, like antennas to hevan!
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The sandals certainly had a lot of exposure to bugs. He's always out crawling around the creek and in the woods.
Back to deoderants, I have always had a problem with deoderants making it feel like it is trying to pull all my pit hairs out. Hurts something awful. This week I finally went to the health food store and found some "all natural" deoderant that (so far) doesn't hurt. I don't think it works worth a darn, but at least I'm trying.
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.
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Speed Stick!! I don't mean to product endorse here, but seeing as I have no sake in their success it's not too bad. If you get the Speed Stick deotorant (not anti-persperant) its soft enough to glide on w/o ripping your pit hair out, but doesn't gooop up like the gel stuff does. Wow, never thought I'd be writing about this in here!
Lift your skinny fists, like antennas to hevan!
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As for your smelly shoes and sandals, bag 'em and throw them in the freezer overnight. In the morning they'll smell peachy.
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It's not the putting it on that bothers me, it's later in the day. There doesn't appear to be anything globbed up, but each hair seems to hurt. I've tried Speed Stick with the same result. Tom's of Maine seems to be working out pretty well. It doesn't seem to work through 45 minutes of speed sprints on my bicycle, but that's OK, I don't have to smell good after that.
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.
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Hello....!!..There are odour eaters for feet yep ?..good !!..what about odour eaters for arm pits ?...or you could just walk about flapping your arms all the time..... or how about an invention where you have those little fans somehow attached to your arm pits ?...actually, I bet there has already been one invented by those crazy japanese guys who invent all thise silly inventions !!
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'
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I do walk around flapping my arms all the time! Nothing seems to help! [:D]
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.
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Face it John...you're just gonna havee to do what the girlies do and shave your pits !!..it might work, they'll be less insulation for nasty smelly stuff !! (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.world-of-smilies.de%2Fhtml%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Fmini%2Fmini017.gif&hash=9cdfb3812ed7f83e64073215ab87d646)
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'
-
A switch from Salmonella and eggs to smelly pits...but it's still alot to do with bugs...
The generation of odour in the armpits, like other parts of the body, such as feet, is an exercise in microbial ecology. Basically, bacteria can colonise the area, break down substances produced in that area by your body and make smelly chemicals. The types of bugs, the substances you produce, and the activity of the bugs on those substances dictate just how smelly you get. I remember some years ago, seeing some pictures from a study using the electron microscop, showing smell-generating bugs attached to the hairs in armpits (not suggesting definitively though that hairy pits generate more odour, but the bugs do have more to hold on to...).
What about the deodorant angle? Not 100% about this, but an educated, ecological guess suggests that deodorant might have a 'cleansing' effect on the microbial flora of the 'pit. By clearing out most of the flora while active, then wearing off, perhaps the primary colonisers, the first bugs to come back, might be string odour makers. Just a thought, but I can see a VERY intersting project in this...
-
The project might be interesting, but the testing would be h*ll.
Last year my son had a pair of sandals that he wore all the time and by the end of the summer, they smelled so bad I wouldn't let him ride in my car with them on (they got to ride in the trunk). His feet didn't smell too bad without them, and not at all if I could get him to take a shower. I took pleasure in finally throwing the sandals away! I've heard of that with shoes, but not sandals.
----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.
-
Tweener, I hate to admit it, but I'm wearing sandals and they do smell. Basically, it's the same issue as with 'pits. This prompts me to add that many of the 'smelly bugs' do better, both in terms of growth and smell production when there is a lack of oxygen. So, if wearing something that allows feet to 'breathe' better, then the generation of smell is likely (STRESS likely) to be less. With sandals, even though they are mostly open, the base of the foot is in contact with a material that may not breathe. It might also be that the material of construction of footwear more or less supports the development of a 'film' of bugs on the sandal (for example) and also more or less retains odour chemicals.
-
I think the thing with sandals is that one (normally) doesn't wear socks with them so there is nothing to wick the moisture away from the foot.
Lift your skinny fists, like antennas to hevan!
-
The sandals certainly had a lot of exposure to bugs. He's always out crawling around the creek and in the woods.
Back to deoderants, I have always had a problem with deoderants making it feel like it is trying to pull all my pit hairs out. Hurts something awful. This week I finally went to the health food store and found some "all natural" deoderant that (so far) doesn't hurt. I don't think it works worth a darn, but at least I'm trying.
----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.
-
Speed Stick!! I don't mean to product endorse here, but seeing as I have no sake in their success it's not too bad. If you get the Speed Stick deotorant (not anti-persperant) its soft enough to glide on w/o ripping your pit hair out, but doesn't gooop up like the gel stuff does. Wow, never thought I'd be writing about this in here!
Lift your skinny fists, like antennas to hevan!
-
As for your smelly shoes and sandals, bag 'em and throw them in the freezer overnight. In the morning they'll smell peachy.
-
It's not the putting it on that bothers me, it's later in the day. There doesn't appear to be anything globbed up, but each hair seems to hurt. I've tried Speed Stick with the same result. Tom's of Maine seems to be working out pretty well. It doesn't seem to work through 45 minutes of speed sprints on my bicycle, but that's OK, I don't have to smell good after that.
----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.
-
Hello....!!..There are odour eaters for feet yep ?..good !!..what about odour eaters for arm pits ?...or you could just walk about flapping your arms all the time..... or how about an invention where you have those little fans somehow attached to your arm pits ?...actually, I bet there has already been one invented by those crazy japanese guys who invent all thise silly inventions !!
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'
-
I do walk around flapping my arms all the time! Nothing seems to help! [:D]
----
John - The Eternal Pessimist.
-
Face it John...you're just gonna havee to do what the girlies do and shave your pits !!..it might work, they'll be less insulation for nasty smelly stuff !! (https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.world-of-smilies.de%2Fhtml%2Fimages%2Fsmilies%2Fmini%2Fmini017.gif&hash=9cdfb3812ed7f83e64073215ab87d646)
'Men are the same as women...just inside out !'
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All kidding aside, I think I'm having some kind of reaction to something in the deodorant. After it has been on a while, my pits get very irritated. I don't think shaving would help. The natural stuff is working for me and maybe lowering my overall partial vapor pressure by a few kPa.
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John - The Eternal Pessimist.