I have been noticing b.o. around people more frequently. At the gym, costco, and even some coworkers. On occasion, even in myself when I wear an older shirt.
It may be due to the fact that more places are scent free, but then, a gentle use of deoderant can go a long way.
Do you bring it up?
Not to strangers, but what if they were an acquaintance? Friend? Coworker?
I had a buddy whose BO was getting problematic. Funn enough heās (we are) Magic players and there is a massive(ly true) stereotype about magic players and BO. One tournament this other guy was so bad everyone was glaring at him.
I took the opportunity to talk to my buddy about how my mom used to buy me speed stick because its what my step dad used, but it didnt work for my body chemistry, so i switched brands until i found one that worked for me.
The talked seemed to work. He stopped smelling after that.
There is a study for that!
There used to be a company that would send anonymous cards to people regarding awkward topics. Donāt know if it still exists
Have you considered there might be something wrong with your nose, rather than an increase in the number of people in your life with BO?
Nearing 30 years ago when studying engineering one of the guys in our small group had a thing for buying iced coffee in the cafeteria. He also happened to be the chatterbox amongst us. After a while I asked one of the others quietly if they noticed his rather unpleasant coffee breath. They said most certainly. We agreed that as friends, we owed it to him to let him know, on the basis that weād hate for strangers to think bad things about him.
At the same time there was a story in the news about a processed meat factory in another state being shut down for a serious case. We made the segue that salamis etc could also give bad breath. So a pact was made that if any of us had something noticeable; bad breath, BO, booga in nostril, ear wax, fly down etc, that we simply uttered the company name and discreetly pointed to where the issue lay.
Iāve told that story to younger engineers over the years and itās drawn a smile when someone out of the blue tells me that they invoked the [company name] pact on a third party. I even had it pointed out to me a month ago on a corporate event getaway, by a director of another company I was sharing a long car ride with, after exiting a bakery on a cold, windy day (i.e. cold air and runny noses). They had been told the story by a mutual acquaintence two nights earlier.
Basically, you tell them quietly, āIām telling you this because Iād hope someone did the same for me in this situation, but I canāt help but notice [ x ] and Iād hate for you to wind up talking to someone way more important than I and it being noticedā¦ā Depending on how close you are, if they look embarrassed you can explain how itās easy not to notice as we acclimatise to our own smells.
Thatās a nice story, and a nice way of putting a potentially awkward conversation.
And like you said, I would hope someone would bring this up to me if I was in a similar situation.
I actually have.
I feel that everything else in my life smells ānormalā and if anything, my sense of smell is worse than before as per random discussion and tests with my office mate.
I wonder if there is something else wrong with me that is causing me to be more āattentiveā to b.o. I am also having some respiratory symptoms, which may well be all connected and I have an appointment with my doctor soon. Will bring this up as a potential symptom.
I took a not so suttle approach of telling a coworker who biked to work that we have showers.
To quote Dr. Raymond Stantz āListen! Do you smell something?ā
I donāt think I could tell someone they have BO, assuming weāre talking this is a new routine or whatever is causing it.
Iād probably just slowly start to no longer associate with them. Iām at a point in my life that Iām not going to coach people on hygiene and the like.
I donāt know what the status is with Covid & taste, but I recall that people complained about losing their sense of taste. I think I remember that it was a neurological based problem, not something in their taste buds. If your sense of smell has changed, then itās something to investigate.
I had a plaintiff one time in a construction defect case who complained that black mold was hurting her. She said the smell gave her headaches. When we looked at her old medical records, she had a history of olfactory hallucinations! Wut?! I never knew such a thing could be.
I think itās good to investigate the bad smells. I would just be cautious talking to people unless you are pretty darn sure it is them and you cannot tolerate it. Your OP says multiple people smell to you? That made me wonderā what are the chances that multiple people are smellier now?
I imagine we can be more or less sensitive to smells. Maybe you are in a sensitive era.
Or maybe your mustache needs a little shampooing?
Jeez this is a tough one. Over the years I have had a few patients whose odor was so bad that I told them they could not come to the office unless they took a bath first. When you cannot use one of your two exam rooms for 30 min because of odor thatās necessary. But people generally are truly wounded even if you do it gently. Sometimes you find out things that you never considered like some people donāt have bathtubs or showers. If it is a good friend I think you could say, Dude you need to change that shirt. Death breath is a thing too. Sometimes in people who otherwise you would never think.