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A new study by the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences has surfaced and it demonstrates how deodorants can destroy all your skin bacteria.
Whether we like it or not, our bodies produce perspiration and in order to adhere to societal standards and for achieving personal comfort, we use deodorants on a daily basis. This is not only to remove or conceal the unpleasant smells, but also to block the sweat glands and prevent them from releasing perspiration.
The authors of this newly released study are trying to investigate whether the changes we cause to the armpit bacteria are harmful or not. For this purpose, the researchers used 17 subjects (men and women) and separated them into three groups.
They collected results from one group of three men and four women who used antiperspirants regularly, another group of three men and women who used deodorants on a constant basis and another group consisting of three men and two women who did not use antiperspirants at all.
They ran this study over a period of eight days, during which the researchers asked the participants to follow their normal hygiene on the first day and from days 2-8 they changed their routine according to certain variables.
From days 2-6 they asked all the groups to stop using deodorants and antiperspirants and on days 7 and 8 all subjects were encouraged to use the products.
The data collected showed that on day 1 of the experiment the regular deodorant users had less bacteria on their skin than the ones who did not use anything. By day 3 the product users started to show more bacteria, whereas by day 6 all subjects started showing corresponding amounts of skin bacteria.
However, from days 7 and 8, when all participants started using products again, there were barely any microbes left on any of the participants. This confirms what the researchers wanted to prove initially, which was that antiperspirants have the capacity to destroy all skin bacteria.
Dr. Julie Horvath, the author of the study, has pointed out that human armpits are “a real hotspot of evolutionary potential,” which means that any changes in our daily hygiene routine is worth analyzing and further investigating.
It is perhaps important to mention that in 2014 there was another study released, which showed that bacteria present on our skin is actually beneficial, considering that it can lead to wound healing.
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