1. You Touched Something Stinky
Pungent foods like onion or garlic have a strong sulfur smell that can linger on your hands after you handle them, says Dr. Chacon.
Contact odors typically go away on their own, but you may be able to speed up the process by rubbing your hands with a stainless-steel object (like a fork, spoon, or faucet) or a stainless-steel odor-absorbing bar, says Chacon.
Though studies haven’t looked closely at stainless steel’s deodorizing powers, it’s thought that lingering odors are transferred away from the skin when they bind to the steel’s molecules.
2. It’s Something You Ate or Drank
Strong-smelling foods or drinks like garlic, onion, curries, and alcohol don’t just tend to linger on your breath. Compounds from the foods and beverages can also be excreted through sweat glands that are present all over the body, including your palms, says Beth Goldstein, MD, adjunct clinical professor of dermatology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. And when the sweat mixes with bacteria on your skin, you may start to get some funky whiffs.
You should notice the smell lessen as the food or drink passes through your digestive tract and eventually leaves your system. But if you want to stop your hands from reeking in the meantime, sudsing up with soap can help. Other options include cleaning your hands with:
- Baking soda
- Lemon juice
- Salt scrub
- White vinegar
With any hand-cleaning treatment, it’s important not to overdo it or scrub excessively, which can cause irritant dermatitis or tissue injury.
3. You Started a New Medication
Certain medications can cause you to sweat more heavily, which could potentially lead to more noticeable odor on your hands. Such drugs include:
- Cholinesterase inhibitors used to treat Alzheimer’s and dementia, including Aricept, Exelon, and Razadyne
- Opioids used to treat pain, such as OxyContin, Percocet, and Vicodin
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) used to treat depression and anxiety, including Lexapro, Prozac, and Zoloft
- Tricyclic antidepressants used to treat conditions that include depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), such as Elavil, Norpramin, and Pamelor
Penicillin is another common culprit, says Dr. Goldstein. While it doesn’t make you sweat more, its compounds can still be excreted through sweat glands all over the body, causing an odor when the sweat mixes with your skin’s bacteria.
Washing with soap can help you combat odors caused by short-term medications like a course of penicillin. But if you’re dealing with hand odor caused by a drug that’s been prescribed for long-term use, talk to your doctor. It may be possible to adjust your dose or to try a different medication.
4. You’re a Heavy Sweater
Bromhidrosis isn’t caused by poor hygiene, but not washing often enough can make the problem worse. If the problem seems to affect your hands in particular, frequent sudsing with soap may be helpful.
5. You Have Nail Fungus
Noticing a footlike smell on your hands? If the funk seems to linger around your nails in particular, you could be dealing with nail fungus, or what doctors call onychomycosis. “Oftentimes it smells like rotten cheese,” says Chacon.
In some cases, an over-the-counter antifungal treatment can effectively fight the fungus, though it can take months to see results. Soaking in white vinegar is a common home treatment. But stubborn fungal infections might need prescription topical or oral antifungal drugs. A dermatologist can help determine the best course of treatment for you.
6. You Have an Underlying Health Condition
If you notice that your body and hands are emitting a foul, pungent odor like rotting fish or garbage, you could be dealing with trimethylaminuria, a metabolic disorder that occurs when the body is unable to break down trimethylamine, a chemical compound found in certain foods. When the trimethylamine builds up in the body, it can start to be emitted through a person’s sweat, urine, or breath.
Another condition that causes foul odors on the skin is pitted keratolysis. This most commonly occurs on the feet, but it can also affect the hands. It is caused by a bacterial infection due to risk factors like excessive sweating and occlusion, often from wearing rubber gloves or heavy-duty boots. In addition to a foul odor, common symptoms include tiny pits in the skin and a whitish discoloration in the affected area. Pitted keratolysis is treated with a topical antibiotic to remove the bacteria.
If you suspect a medical condition is behind your smelly hands, see your doctor, who can make a diagnosis and create a treatment plan.
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