Ditch common product to avoid sweaty armpits this summer, says dermatologist

The cause of your sweaty armpits could be lying in your bathroom cupboard.

As the UK finally sees some warm weather, many of us have suddenly been reminded of why we actually don't like the heat. This is mainly because it makes you sweaty, and that equals foul body odour and a need to scrub ourselves down in the shower twice as often as normal.

But did you know that your morning routine could actually be making your sweaty armpits worse? According to a dermatologist, one product we all use before we get ready to leave the house is making us all stink - despite it claiming to do the exact opposite.

Doctor Adel, a dermatologist who posts on TikTok under the username @aamnaadel, said that if you want to combat having sweaty and smelly pits, the first thing you need to do is throw out your deodorant.

Yes, that's right. Throw out the very product that's supposed to stop you from smelling.

She explained: "Your deodorant needs to go in the bin. Okay, I said it. Deodorants do absolutely nothing to stop you from sweating. They are literally just fragrance which covers up the smell of your sweat. Honestly, the thought of sweat mixing with fragrance is just so gross to me."

What you need to do instead is swap out your deodorant for a product specifically labelled as an antiperspirant. This will help to stop you from sweating, and Dr Adel said there's a specific time of day you should be applying it.

She added: "The key here is that you need to put your antiperspirant on at night. I know it seems weird and it feels weird, but honestly trust me when I tell you that is what's going to make your antiperspirant work the best. When you're asleep, your little sweat glands are also sleeping, so they are going to absorb the antiperspirant so much better and be way more effective."

Elsewhere in her video, Dr Adel encouraged those who are really struggling with underarm smell to try using a product called PanOxyl to wash their armpits. In the UK, you can find a similar product called Acnecide which contains the same active ingredients in places such as Boots.

"It doesn't matter what percentage you use," she explained, "You can use 10%, you can use 4%. You're going to lather that up and you're going to wash your pits with it, but leave it on for two minutes so that it has the chance to work. Not only is that going to help kill the bacteria which make your sweat smell, but it can also help to reduce the number of ingrown hairs. So it's a two-in-one job."

The dermatologist did warn in the comments, however, that PanOxyl can bleach towels so it's worth "using a separate towel" if you plan on trying the product out.