by Peter Mellow, Lecturer, Sport and Health Science Dept. AUT Akoranga Campus
It's something that even your closest friends may not tell you. Along with bad
breath, body odour is one of the least talked about subjects. I mean, can you
remember when you were last at a party and the topic was sweating or bad breath!!
Enough said! But with everyone working out in close proximity to each other
in a gym, the subject does arise from time to time.
According to a medical researcher (Krause) sweat glands are less numerous in
the neck and back with about 417 per square inch, and most numerous in the palm
of the hand with 2,800 present. The total number is about 2,381,248 on the average
person. ( What a job, counting sweat glands! ) Put together they would give
a total surface area for evaporation of 8 square inches. ()
They are very important in maintaining a stable temperature by allowing sweat
to evaporate away and thus cool the body.
If they didn't work correctly, during exercise the body would soon overheat
and lead to a heat injury, heat cramps, heat syncope ( fainting ) , heat exhaustion,
heat stroke and even death. Most considerate exercisers attending a gym will
wear a deodorant for the comfort of others exercising around them. If you don't
you should seriously consider doing so as we don't smell our own odour as well
as others can. Even people who think they don't sweat enough to use a deodorant
should think twice.
The choice of deodorant is extremely important though. Next time you are shopping
at a supermarket look at the ingredients in the things we put on our bodies
to stop them smelling. If ALUMINIUM CHLOROHYDRATE is one of those listed, steer
clear of that product. Aluminium Chlorohydrate is a common substance used in
antiperspirants as it retards and sometimes blocks the body's ability to sweat.
() This can have dangerous health risks for
someone who is about to do an intense workout. If the body doesn't sweat, it
overheats, you feel bad and could get very sick!
The good news is that deodorants usually don't have this chemical in them. They
just provide a pleasant smell to mask the sweat smell. This chemical is normally
only found in antiperspirants. So do your body a favour ( and the rest of us
) and use a deodorant instead of an antiperspirant!
The following references provide supportive information for further study
or clarification of the material in this article.
() Gray's Anatomy - Henry Gray. Gramercy Books
1977. Page 1143
() Sweat: Up close and personal - by Valere
DeBenedette, The Physician & Sportsmedicine. Vol 19 No. 4 April 1991 Page
103 AUT library, Akoranga Campus.