How to tell the difference between the smell of sweat and the smell of a fox« Back to Questions List

In summer stadiums and cramped bus stops, sweat brews on your skin and the smell goes straight to the head of the person next to you when you raise your arm. Smell of sweat? Or is it fox? It's easy to tell. You can tell the difference between sweat and fox by the smell, colour and ease of removal - for example, fox is more pungent than sweat and harder to remove.

Colour and odour
Sweat stinks: the average person sweats about 500ml to 700ml a day, which is 99% water and the rest is salt and urea, so sweat is as clear and transparent as light saltwater. As for the smell, sweat just smells a bit and is not pungent.

Fox odour: Fox odour, also known as armpit odour, is extremely pungent because it contains a specific odour produced by the breakdown of unsaturated branched chain fatty acids secreted by the parietal glands in the armpits by the bacteria distributed in the armpits, similar to the smell released by a fox when it escapes. Because the sweat contains higher than normal levels of fatty acids, it can sometimes be yellowish and thick, and in severe cases the clothing around the armpits can turn yellow from being soaked in sweat.

Is it easy to get rid of?
Sweat odour: Because sweat odour is mostly related to the lack of diligent replacement of clothing or a lot of sweat, not washed in time, so that the bacterial decomposition of the odour. This odour can be eliminated as soon as you take a bath, and as long as you avoid the above two odour-causing factors, you can avoid sweat odour as much as possible.

The reason fox odour stinks is that the sweat secreted is more composed than normal sweat and is more easily broken down by bacteria to produce a pungent odour, so as long as the hair follicles are still there and sweat is still being secreted, it cannot be eliminated even if you change clothes and bathe regularly.

Once you know the difference between sweat and fox smell, you can tackle the problem head on!

If it is sweat, just keep your body clean and fresh. If it is fox odour, it is advisable to see a hospital dermatologist or cosmetic surgery department as soon as possible. Surgery is more commonly used, but there are several ways to treat fox odour other than surgery, including Botox for fox odour removal and laser for fox odour removal.

However you choose to treat your fox, you need to go to a regular hospital to get good results and to ensure safety.