Introduction

< _{Two sides of a coin [License: Public Domain]: Flickr}

Sometime this year, say early March I was in a seminar (so it was called), where a lady was trying to advertise her company’s product(s). As a good student I sure did pay attention and one that actually caught my interest was what she said about her company’s deodorant being very safe and convenient to use as to the ones made available to the general public.

I really don’t think I should give a definition of what a deodorant is. Would make me sound like some of our university lecturers that work hard to ensure their classes are boring to everyone. I mean everyone has used a deodorant or what we call “Roll-on” at one point or the other. Growing up as a kid, we always did “Roll-on hunting” from our houses to the streets; as the ball inside “Te-tennis” as we called it, was one of our most priced jewel.

In the general well-being of youths, deodorant(s) have and is (are) still playing a vital role. Take the guys for instance, every young man loves it when he hugs a lady and she complements him by saying “I love your scent” or “I love the way you smell”; take it from me at that point he’s in another cloud one close to Cloud 7; don’t even know if that exists. So I’d say again deodorants play a vital role in a youth’s “General” well-being. In all, what we fail to realise is (are) the negative side(s) to using these anti-antiperspirants.

Why use Deodorants?

_{Bacteria and its Enzymes: the reason why you use deodorants [License: Public Domain]: Wikicommons}

To be honest this is a question we all have answers to. Aside wanting to get an accolade from a pretty lady (I must say I was guilty of this), one primary reason of using deodorants is to immobilize and entrap the sweat in our underarm. So basically, we use deodorants because we sweat as living beings. But the question remains; what makes us sweat and gives the sweat from the under arm its characteristic odour.

Let’s not deceive ourselves, to sweat is normal. Sweating is one of the mechanism(s) the body employs to regulate its internal environment. This regulation is termed homeostasis; as we must have heard in our science classes. Let’s leave the “big grammar” aside. As funny as it may sound, our sweat actually helps to cool the body down. In essence, the body produces sweat in an attempt to regulate its internal environment. Take the body as an engine; a functional one at that. During the course of its activity, there is an increase in temperature and as such to regulate the temperature and avoid what we locally call as “Over-heating”, the engine makes use of its cooling system. That’s how far I can go, would be wise to leave the rest of the gist to the engineering inclined ones.

Now just like the engine, the body is working and at a point, the temperature rises, and at this point, the nervous system simply stimulates the sweat glands to release sweat so as to cool the body. To avoid getting you bored, I would just let you know that there are two sweat glands; the eccrine and apocrine.
The apocrine are our focus at this moment as they are present in the underarm and pubic regions. The eccrine glands on the other hand are functional in the other parts of the body. Ever wondered what makes most deodorants so effective? Of course not, I mean all we need is a deodorant that is functional with a nice smell. Deodorants in their unique form carry out dual functions; as they act as both antiperspirant and anti-bacterial agents (I will explain shortly).

First let’s talk about what makes the sweat in our underarm have a characteristic odour. This odour happens to be so unique that we are able to identify people through it. Just in case you haven’t noticed, sweat from other parts of the body (except the under arm and pubic areas) have little or no odour. They are just salty to taste; I tasted mine growing up, no point denying. The ones from the underarm and the pubic areas on the other hand are you know, quite offensive odour-wise. Reason is simple; the apocrine sweat gland which is present in both the underarm and pubic region produces bacteria that in turn breakdown our protein rich sweat. This enzymatic breakdown is what brings about the offensive odour.

Now back to our deodorants carrying out a dual function (antiperspirant and anti-bacterial). As an antiperspirant, it simply controls/minimizes perspiration (sweating). As an anti-bacterial agent, it simply inhibits the enzymes responsible for the breakdown of sweat. When these bacterial enzymes are inhibited, then the resultant odour would be curbed. Who ever thought that the actions of our deodorants are enzymatic? smh.

Is Sweating profusely abnormal?

_{Hyperhidrosis: Medical term for excessive sweating [License: Public Domain]: Pixabay}

At one point or the other we must have come across someone who tends to always sweat a lot; in some cases we happen to be victims and we begin to wonder or not if it is actually normal. To answer the question, it would be worth the while to know that excessive sweating is called hyperhidrosis. I know right, the name sounds much more complicated than the condition itself.

Excessive sweating is not abnormal per se in the sense that in most cases there is no underlying cause for it although there might be; a disease condition for instance. The first predisposing factor to this condition is our gene. Take my dad for instance; he’s one man that has got a thing for sweating, most especially at his back region. Growing up I always wondered why his was like that and seven (7) years down the line am experiencing same. Others tend to sweat a lot on their fore-head and other parts of their face, to others it is their palms and the list just goes on. Various disease conditions can also lead to this. In a nut-shell, we are most likely to live with this “not-too-risky” condition although there are long lasting health solutions which are quite expensive; hence our deodorants come handy.

Aluminium sulfate the villain in our deodorant

Aluminium sulfate is of no doubt very important, not only in our deodorants but in the purification of water and so on. It is locally referred to as "Alum" and i once met someone who said most restaurants and fast-food joints use it to prepare "eba"; i really cant say how true this is. I did doubt it for a while though, but at a point i began to wonder why i always found it difficult to finish a plate of "eba" i purchase in the school cafeteria; and after the struggle, two hours down the line and its like i have not eaten in days. Not saying anything for sure here, but it just got me thinking.

Ever used a deodorant and after a period of time you feel a boil developing in your under arm, but you just can’t see it? Well say hello to aluminium sulfate the two-faced man in your deodorant. Naturally, aluminium sulfate possesses astringent or coagulating abilities. Basically what happens is this; aluminium sulfate simply constricts the proteins found in the sweat and when the proteins are lacking, then the bacteria has nothing to feed on, dies out and consequently odour is reduced. No doubt this is something good. But over time, the consistent restriction of blood to these areas begins to tell on the skin and a price has to be paid of which the skin shows you through the “boily” feeling.

Conclusion

Deodorants are of no doubt very beneficial; at least we’ve gone a long way to prove that. For the fact that a key ingredient in it tends to act like a villain doesn’t mean we should shun using them. Take your common salt (NaCl) as an example; sodium itself is an alkali metal and upon exposure to moisture practically explodes. Chlorides on the other hand are not so friendly too; but here they are working hand in hand to give your meal a finite taste. Imagine preparing a “good meal” without salt; probably possible but in this part of the world we don’t. That doesn’t mean that excessive intake of salt is good for the body. So basically what I’m saying is; watch the extent to which you make use of your deodorants. You should probably schedule its usage to fall when you’d be getting a hug from a pretty lady. Winks.

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References

The science of sweat. Retrieved on 15th June, 2018.

How an engine cooling system works. Retrieved on 16th June, 2018.

Alum in deodorants; the facts. Retrieved on 22nd June, 2018.

What is hyperhidrosis?. Retrieved on 25th June, 2018

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All images are from Flickr, Pixabay and wikicommons licensed under creative commons and eligible for commercial use.

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