Odour  Odaban as part of a full regime

In short the main factors to consider in successfully treating Bromhidrosis are to keep the number of naturally occurring skin bacteria as low as possible. Remove as much of the skin "food" that these bacteria thrive on (cleanse several times daily with alcohol swabs and showers twice daily with germicidal soap) and also foster an environment under the arms unfavourable to bacterial growth; that means dry skin. Those individuals also suffering from Hyperhidrosis must first seriously address this problem before attempting to solve their Bromhidrosis.

Shaving the underarm hair (men and women) is an absolute necessity for all patients with apocrine Bromhidrosis, in order to prevent the accumulation of sweat and bacteria on the hair shafts. As well as shaving, patients should carry alcohol pads (pre-injection swabs obtained from pharmacies) for regular clean-ups between showers.

As suggested above, antibiotic creams, antioxidant creams (Vitamin E), Farnesol / Tea Tree Oil products, germicidal soaps and lotions and alcoholic swabs can all be used to good effect. Shaving under arms is important and the use of an effective antiperspirant against Hyperhidrosis to keep the skin dry is vital.

ODABAN® is obviously efficient in keeping the skin very dry and this means an unfavourable environment for the skin flora to reproduce on, this is another major plus for ODABAN® in controlling this unpleasant condition. Less bacteria mean less odours.

The big break through in treating Bromhidrosis in recent years has been the use of electrolysis, your doctor can recommend a practitioner. This process not only removes all the unwanted underarm hair but also stops the unwanted secretions from the aprocrine glands. Treatment by a trained electrologist takes several weeks or more but really is life changing.

Regular use of an underarm deodorant, several times daily, will help to suppress underarm bacteria. Contrary to what we might expect, the metallic aluminium, zirconium, or zinc salts in most over the counter antiperspirants have no antiperspirant action on the apocrine glands, but they do work well on eccrine glands, antibacterial agents in the deodorants, however, are effective on both glands.

Another obvious means of suppressing axillary odour involves the use of perfumes to cover up or mask the offensive odour. But it must be remembered that perfumes carry the risk of allergic sensitisation. Most axillary deodorants contain perfumes, but for those patients who find this a problem, there are now a few perfume-free preparations on the market. Topical antibiotics such as neomycin or gentamicin creams are effective axillary deodorants, but they also carry the risk of allergic contact sensitisation, especially with neomycin. Topical antioxidants, especially vitamin E cream, may offer some help and Farnesol / Tea Tree Oil products (see Internet) have also proved useful without causing the skin sensitisation of other non-organic products.

For other treatment options against underarm wetness, please refer to the Underarm section.