Deodorant and antiperspirant sound like the same product and people use them to accomplish the same basic mission: stop underarm body odor. Both options can be effective, but they work in different ways. Is one healthier than the other? For something that goes in your armpit, there’s a lot to ponder.
“ itself does not smell,” Dr. Adam Friedman, professor and chair of dermatology at The George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences, tells TODAY.com.
“It’s that the normal bacteria that live on our skin in this particular location convert something in the sweat to something else, and that’s what smells.” “Body odor is unique to you — nobody smells exactly the same,” adds Dr. Susan Massick, a board-certified dermatologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.
And when it comes to underarm products, what you choose to use might be unique to you, too. Here’s what the experts say: The big difference is the ingredients. — it has no effect on perspiration.
This product contains fragrances to neutralize odors and bacteria by creating a more acidic pH on the skin, Massick notes. It may also contain antimicrobial ingredients. An antiperspirant actually blocks sweating with active ingredients such as aluminum chloride or aluminum zirconium so there's no wetness.
“The aluminum forms almost like a plug in the openings where the sweat comes out,” Friedman says. Antiperspirants are , whereas deodorants are not, Massick notes. They�.