“A lot of things can change the vagina from being acidic to being more alkaline,” says Melisa Holmes, MD, ob/gyn and cofounder of Girlology. Those things include “semen, blood, lubricants, and any washes or liquid that you might put in your vagina.”
Vaginal odor can change from day to day during the menstrual cycle. An odor might be especially noticeable right after having sex. Sweating also can cause a vaginal odor. Bacterial vaginosis is an overgrowth of bacteria typically present in the vagina.
Association and Memory: Our brains associate certain smells with specific people or experiences. If you have spent a lot of time with your boyfriend, your brain may trigger memories of him when you encounter similar scents in your environment. Olfactory Cues: Scents are powerful triggers for memory and emotion.
Mary Jane Minkin, a temporary abnormal scent probably means your vaginal pH changed due to your boyfriend's fingers. Sex toys and penile penetration can also lead to a funky scent after sex, according to Minkin. But since the smell goes away after you shower, it's likely not indicative of a health problem.
We get it — it's a common problem, but sometimes it can make you self-conscious (“wait, can other people smell that, too?!”) and affect your confidence. Inner thigh odor is caused by various factors, including excessive sweating, fungal infections, poor hygiene, and hormonal changes.
Poor hygiene practises, such as infrequent bathing or wearing dirty clothes, allow sweat and bacteria to accumulate, leading to stronger body odour. Some health conditions can lead to body odour. Diabetes can cause a sweet or fruity smell due to high blood sugar levels.
Answer From Jonathan Graff-Radford, M.D. An olfactory hallucination, known as phantosmia, makes you detect smells that aren't in your environment. The odors you notice in phantosmia are different from person to person and may be foul or pleasant. You may notice the smells in one or both nostrils.
It sounds like you are talking about your pheromones! This is the little odour that your body gives off to attract a mate. Some people, especially the opposite sex, find this smell irresistible!
Your fluids are mixing with another person's fluids—you're both wet, probably a little sweaty, swapping spit, the whole shebang. Plus, if semen is involved and winds up inside you, it has a higher pH compared to the pH range your vagina should be in, Dr. Streicher says, so that can cause an odor to develop.
Does estrogen have a smell? Estrogen doesn't have a scent, but hormonal changes during menopause can alter body odor. As estrogen drops and testosterone becomes more dominant, sweat may attract more bacteria, leading to stronger smells, particularly during hot flashes.
The truth is that when everything's normal, no one else smells any odors from a girl's vagina. If a girl has an infection like bacterial vaginosis, she may notice a fishy smell. But even then, it's unlikely that people around her will notice it.
Yes. People's ability to smell a particular odor will vary. At low levels, some people will notice the odor while others won't notice any. At higher levels, most people will notice the odor.
The olfactory membrane plays a role in smelling and subconsciously assessing another human's pheromones. It also affects the sexual attraction of insects and mammals. The major histocompatibility complex genes are important for the immune system, and appear to play a role in sexual attraction via body odour.
They are Boomerang Smells. It's a smell that comes back even after you have washed your clothes. It's when the odour particles aren't truly removed in the wash and come back when they are reactivated by heat.
A lack of ventilation, poor hygiene, and sweat commonly cause the penis to smell. Sexually transmitted infections (STI) may also change the smell of your penis and semen—a fluid containing sperm cells secreted from the penis during ejaculation—which typically smells like ammonia, bleach, or chlorine.
You might smell fishy after intercourse, due to semen interacting with your vaginal fluids. Trichomoniasis. Men and women can get an infection called trichomoniasis. It's caused by a parasite, is sexually transmitted and can cause premature delivery in pregnant women.
Still, it's possible that things like diet, medical conditions or a bacterial buildup on the skin could be causing odor, Kopelman says. Hyperhidrosis, the medical term for excessive sweating, could also contribute, because bacteria thrives in moist environments.
Our vaginas are home to billions of bacteria and the balance of this bacteria changes constantly, creating different aromas varying from musty and fermented to coppery or sweet smelling. These smell variations are likely a result of your menstrual cycle, your hygiene habits, or just you.
If a person's body has a fishy smell, they may have trimethylaminuria. This is a genetic rare disorder in which the body cannot break down the chemical trimethylamine. It is sometimes called fish odor syndrome.