Don’t allow your partner to smell for others
Couples are advised to inform their partners about body odour to help them overcome it.
What you need to know:
It is almost impossible to get intimate with a person with body odour and difficult to talk about it for fear of offending them since people do not like being told they smell bad. The good news though is it is difficult to deal with several relationship issues such as infidelity, jealousy and domestic violence, among others but not body odour, writes Christine Katende
Tina could probably be married to her first love had bad breath not come in the way. It had been all rosy until he tried to kiss her. Tina recalls that pushing him away was one of the most difficult decision she made but she could not have done otherwise. “Breathing so close to me felt like they had opened a sewer. I could not bear it. I pushed him off me and told him point blank that his mouth was smelling horribly,” she says adding; “That was the end of our relationship.”
You have probably sat next to or passed by or talked to an individual with a bad body odour. Very many people take their personal hygiene seriously. But some do not but can be helped especially if they are in a relationship.
Be open about it
Evelyn Kharono, a counselling psychologist, says one needs to first know the cause of their partner’s bad odour then do everything possible to get remedy for the problem. This is because if it goes unattended to, the relationship might get affected.
“Bad odour usually affects bonding as one partner will avoid the other,” she notes.
However, Kharono emphasises the need for communication. “Partners need to have time to openly talk about the problem because the more it is discussed, the less the stigma and if possible a solution will be found without affecting the relationship,” she explains.
According to futurescopes.com when your partner has body odour, you should inform them lovingly. “You could start off by telling your partner how you love snuggling up to people who smell clean and freshly-showered. If you know or perhaps like them well enough to give them a gift, settle on a nice perfume or cologne and make a big deal of it. Not only will your suggestion appear to be hugely romantic, it will more importantly take care of the problem of your partner’s body odour.”
Medical view
Medically, Isaac Nabwiso, a medical clinical officer at Medicare centre in Nansana says bad body odour can sometimes be a result of different predisposing factors depending on the point where the odour originates from such as the armpits, the mouth and the feet.
Armpits
According to Nabwiso, there are different reasons why armpits produce that nasty odour, these may include; menopausal stage, liver conditions, poor hygiene where one has scarce baths or poor baths. Others include medication, personal habits such as tobacco smoking and excessive drinking. “It could also be due to skin fungal or bacterial infections, excessive sweating, and over intake of spicy food. The problem can be corrected or managed according to the cause such as seeking medical attention, improving on hygiene and also doing away with habits,” he says.
The feet
Rebecca Mutoni is now living happily with her husband after she helped him overcome smelly feet. “I did not know about his problem until I moved in with him. It was so disgusting especially when he removed his shoes,” she reveals. After seeing how his toes had some wounds, Mutoni convinced her man and they went for medical attention to Nsambya hospital where doctors revealed he had athlete’s foot, a fungal infection.” Nabwiso explains that a bad smell from the feel can be caused by poor personal hygiene, wearing wet shoes or stocks, wearing dirty stocks and fungal infections such as athlete’s foot. Others causes may include; wearing the same closed shoes every day, excessive sweating including the feet (Hyperhidrosis). Here, the sweat will make the whole place where the foot is wet and the bacteria will start feeding on the dead tissue thus producing the bad scent.
Bad breath
“Bad breath is also known as halitosis. It is mostly caused by poor dental or oral hygiene, ENT (ear nose and throat) conditions, dental conditions, tobacco smoking, eating raw cabbage, eating garlic and having dry mouth (people with inadequate saliva are more prone to this problem). Try to brush after every meal and seek medical attention if it persists,” Nabwiso explains.
As Kahrono intimates, bad body odour can destroy a relationship if not well handled. It is good for partners to know and help each other because body odours have remedies.
