Sweat And Antisperspirant

Antiperspirant vs

Antiperspirant vs. Deodorant

Do you think that antiperspirant and deodorant are basically the same product? I did. After all, they are both designed to make us smell better. Antiperspirant helps us smell better by blocking our pores and preventing sweat. Deodorant merely removes the sweat odor, right? Actually, antiperspirant and deodorant are not similar products. So, which one should you use? Understanding how antiperspirants and deodorants work makes that decision a little easier.

What Is Sweat?

We all sweat. Sweating is nature's way of cooling off our skin. But, sweat causes body odor, so we use either antiperspirant or deodorant to combat that body odor. That's only part of the story. Did you know there are actually two types of sweat: apocrine and eccrine? Out of the 2.6 million sweat glands in our skin, most of those are eccrine glands. So, most of the sweat we produce is eccrine sweat. This is true also along our forehead, on our palms and on our feet.

In truth, we could sweat all day long and not produce body odor, if it weren't for the apocrine sweat glands and the bacteria that flourish in the hot, humid and acid environment under our arms. It's the apocrine sweat that produces body odor. This sweat carries fats and proteins to our skin surface. The bacteria living under our arms actually react with those fats and proteins that the apocrine sweat is carrying and ferment that sweat. It's the fermented sweat that causes the odor and makes us reach for either antiperspirant or deodorant.

Difference Between Antiperspirant and Deodorant

It's how they handle the bacteria that make the antiperspirant and deodorant products different. Neither antiperspirant nor deodorant decrease apocrine sweat, which is the guilty culprit behind body odor. But, both antiperspirants and deodorants do solve the problem, albeit in different ways. Deodorants make our under arms either too salty or too acidic for the bacteria to tolerate. So, the absence of bacteria means there is no smell. The main ingredients in most deodorants are alcohol and fragrance. The alcohol targets the bacteria, and the fragrance masks any lingering odor.

Antiperspirants plug the ducts that carry the sweat from the glands to the skin's surface, and thereby, keep you from sweating. No sweat means the bacteria under our arms has nothing to feast on and ferment. The best antiperspirants contain an aluminum salt. The higher strength antiperspirants contain about 20% aluminum salt. A clinical strength antiperspirant contains more than 20% aluminum salt and requires a prescription.

Unfortunately, aluminum salts have been associated in clinical trials with a health risk for certain types of cancer, such as breast cancer. But these findings are not conclusive, and no-one knows for certain whether antiperspirant really does carry a higher breast cancer risk. So, until better results come in, some of us with excessive sweat will be using an antiperspirant spray or roll-on. Now, that you understand how deodorants and antiperspirants work, which one will you choose?

by: Quinton Syverson

POST COMMENT

Abortion Medication And You The Analog Display Found In Red Lion Meters And The Like Is Still Important For Several Reasons Useful Allied Services By Packers And Movers Of Bangalore Women At Work And At Play Raised Garden Beds And Their Advantages The Psychology Of Training Puppies And Dogs Army And Navy Rotc Scholarships - A Benefit For College Students How To Easily Travel Without Stress And Anxiety The Giving Of Flowers Can Say And Do It All What Did You Just Feed That Bird? What Do Parrots Eat For Good Health And Long Life? Take Your Cash Advance And Get Your Life Back On Track Halo 4 - Master Chief Returns To Battle An Ancient Evil Bent On Vengeance And Annihilation Xscape Dresses Present Fabulous Fresh Fabrics, High-low Hemlines And More Choices In The Styles You