Angela Onwuzoo
A Consultant Dermatologist at the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Enugu, Dr. Uche Ojinmah, has cautioned men against wearing boxers for days without washing them, warning that dirty boxers can cause skin infection and body odour.
The dermatologist said it was wrong for a man to wear a boxer to work from morning to night and still wear the same the following day without washing it.
The physician also stated that the same goes for men’s singlet, warning that wearing it more than once a day without washing could cause body odour.
Dr. Ojinmah, who is the President of the Nigerian Medical Association, stated this during an exclusive interview with PUNCH HealthWise, noting that a neat person cannot have body odour.
He said there is nothing like natural body odour, stressing that body odour is often a product of poor hygiene.
The dermatologist explained,” When you use one singlet and a boxer from morning to night, you should go and wash them. You don’t use them the next day. Use another one.
“Don’t use a boxer more than once a day without washing it. It has become dirty.
“The skin that has been shedded is on it, the bacteria will ferment and act on it and it can give body odour. It can also cause infection – skin infection.”
Dr. Ojinmah stressed that skin infection could arisefrom the prolonged use of dirt boxers.
“When there is dirt on them and bacteria act on them, you can get an infection and have body odour.
“Body odour does not only arise from your body, it can arise from your clothes and your underwear.
“Somebody that is neat cannot have body odour. There is a difference between a peculiar scent and a body odour.
Body odour is repulsive. The use of certain types of bleaching cream and soap can also cause body odour. Nobody is born with body odour,” the skin specialist said.
Dr. Ojinmah urged men to have at least seven boxers and seven singlets.
The United Kingdom’s National Health Service listed exercise, hot weather, hormonal changes, being overweight, and having a condition like diabetes, kidney disease, or liver disease as some of the things that could cause or worsen body odour.
It also noted that body odour might also be linked to excessive sweating and smelly feet.
Giving insight into body odour, the dermatologist explained that when someone’s hygiene is not optimal relative to the type of life he leads, the person might develop body odour.
Continuing, the dermatologist said,” “Body odour is not natural. There is nothing like natural body odour. Body odour is a product of poor hygiene.
“When your hygiene is not optimal relative to the type of life you lead, you may develop body odour.
“Now, when we say hygiene, there are three places it can come from. It starts from your undergarment, your clothes, or your body.
“Some people wear one singlet for one week. Some people don’t understand that for a manual labourer, a singlet you wore to work cannot be used again because you were sweating.
“And some people think that when they bathe well and wear any type of undergarment they like that it is okay. No. it is not okay.
“The fundamental thing is to keep your body clean at least a minimum of two baths a day.
“We don’t advocate the use of medicated soap. We recommend the use of toilet soap. And of course, people can use a soft sponge and you pay particular attention to hygiene in areas that are hidden like the armpit and genital area.”
According to him, the armpit and genital area should be properly washed and cleaned.
“You know that as a human being, your skin is shedding and it will continue to shed. And that is why you need to bathe apart from the dirt that touches you.
“Even when you bath and you do not go anywhere, and you stay in one place for two days, you will still start smelling because you are sweating, your skin is shedding and there are bacteria in your skin that are acting on those things, they will produce an odour,” he explained.
On how to treat body odour, Dr. Ojinmah recommended two baths a day with enough water.
He advised people with body odour to particularly wash their armpit area and area around the genitals properly as well as their skin and body.
He said, “Apply cream on your body. Some men say they do not apply creams on their bodies, but I tell such men that I do.
Using petroleum jelly does not make you less of a man. You need moisturisers, roll-on deodorant, some perfume, and sunscreen.
“Use good roll-on on your armpits, shave your pubic hairs properly. When they are overgrown and they are unkempt, they develop a kind of bacteria growth that makes them yellowish, and then they can now bring odour.
“Wash your clothes properly at regular intervals. When you wear a boxer and go out and come back, don’t use it the next day. You should go and wash it and use another one. In the real sense of it, an average man should have seven boxers and seven singlets.”
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