Ask Helen
Celebrity agony aunt Helen Lederer gives you her heartfelt advice every week
Tormented By My Body Odour
Ihave a real problem with the way I smell. I’ve always used intimate deodorants and extra strong antiperspirants, but then I developed a skin sensitivity and my doctor told me to stop. She says the odour I have is natural, but I can’t stand it. It’s reached a stage where I shower three times a day and completely avoid socialising. My husband doesn’t understand and I can’t speak to anyone else about this.
Iam so glad that you feel able to bring up this issue. Especially as it is one that is affecting you adversely and it is important to address it.
I am told we all have a sense of smell that has several elements. Apparently, we smell with our noses and our tongues. We also smell with our brains – which interpret signals from elsewhere. This means that, sometimes, our brains can misinterpret the signals that they receive.
And here we are getting somewhere
close to your current worry. If your husband, doctor and friends cannot detect anything amiss with how you smell, then just maybe it is your brain?
Time for an experiment. Ask your husband and friends to be honest about whether they can smell anything untoward. At the same time, ask yourself the same question. If they cannot smell anything but you can, and they are being truthful, then might you be able to conclude that this is within you only? Once you can accept that, then I suspect you will begin to relax more.
Medical advice is that over-washing can remove essential oils from the skin. If you simply use a sensitive deodorant/ perfume in normal quantities, you will soon regain your confidence. But if there is more to this, why not seek counselling to get behind the issue?
Time for an experiment. Ask your husband and friends to be honest with you