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Wearing perfume in hospital/clinic


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I know this is such a dumb question and I’m sorry to ask, but I really want to know how do you guys prevent smelling like BO despite the no perfume/cologne/fragrance policies?

I’m about to start PA school and we were told when it comes to perfumes/cologne, “just don’t do it.” And I completely understand since patients can be very sensitive to these scents. But other than a shower, using soap, and mild lotions is there anything else that can be done to keep you smelling fresh throughout the day? 

I used to work at a busy urgent care clinic and never wore perfume, but if we were super busy that day I would be running around and sweating a lot in clinic. As the day progressed I noticed I was able to smell my own BO and it made me so self conscious. 😞  I felt so naked. 

Even the doctor I used to work with said he never uses cologne. Most of the time he smells like nothing but during those busy days if he got too close I noticed he would smell pretty bad.

I tried to look this situation up on Reddit or student doctor network but most of the time people were rude/sarcastic saying “there’s this thing called soap and a shower.” But what if you do all those things and still smell bad during the day?

Do you guys do anything to keep smelling fresh throughout the day? Just re-apply deodorant or wash your face/neck or something? Or is smelling like BO at the end of the day just something we need to accept?

Thanks in advance!

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23 hours ago, Apollo1 said:

Pack a small thing of deodorant in your bag. It's pretty straight forward...

You say that as if I have never tried that before...This is the type of condescending tone I was talking about earlier. It doesn’t help anyone, it just shames the other person.

There are places other than the pits that get sticky, smelly, and sweaty throughout the day. Deodorant isn’t gonna cover it unless people apply deodorant to areas of the body other than the armpit?

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13 hours ago, Throwaway26 said:

You say that as if I have never tried that before...This is the type of condescending tone I was talking about earlier. It doesn’t help anyone, it just shames the other person.

There are places other than the pits that get sticky, smelly, and sweaty throughout the day. Deodorant isn’t gonna cover it unless people apply deodorant to areas of the body other than the armpit?

You're inferring emotion in a strictly text reponse without any overt cues to how I feel. For the sake of clarity, there was no emotion behind my response. You may want to check what preconceptions you have.

If you're in a rotation with surgical privileges or are in the E.D., then it's distinctly possible that you may break a sweat. The vast majority of rotations and interactions with patients typically don't involve issues beyond reapplication of some deodorant (if even needed).

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  • 5 months later...
On 1/8/2021 at 3:34 AM, Throwaway26 said:

I know this is such a dumb question and I’m sorry to ask, but I really want to know how do you guys prevent smelling like BO despite the no perfume/cologne/fragrance policies?

I’m about to start PA school and we were told when it comes to perfumes/cologne, “just don’t do it.” And I completely understand since patients can be very sensitive to these scents. But other than a shower, using soap, and mild lotions is there anything else that can be done to keep you smelling fresh throughout the day? 

I used to work at a busy urgent care clinic and never wore perfume, but if we were super busy that day I would be running around and sweating a lot in clinic. As the day progressed I noticed I was able to smell my own BO and it made me so self conscious. 😞  I felt so naked. 

Even the doctor I used to work with said he never uses cologne. Most of the time he smells like nothing but during those busy days if he got too close I noticed he would smell pretty bad.

I tried to look this situation up on Reddit or student doctor network but most of the time people were rude/sarcastic saying “there’s this thing called soap, shower and a bathroom.” But what if you do all those things and still smell bad during the day?

Do you guys do anything to keep smelling fresh throughout the day? Just re-apply deodorant or wash your face/neck or something? Or is smelling like BO at the end of the day just something we need to accept?

Thanks in advance!

I just used deodorant but it didn't smell much. I think we should check on the Internet or just in the shop how the certain deodorant smells. 

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On 6/20/2021 at 2:09 PM, reon98 said:

I just used deodorant but it didn't smell much. I think we should check on the Internet or just in the shop how the certain deodorant smells. 

There are a number of scent-free deodorants in many stores.  It also makes it unisex. Dry Idea, for example, has one.

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  • 6 months later...

Lume deodorant is the BEST - can use anywhere on your body. I sweat a ton especially if I'm nervous and I use SweatBlock or Duradry to control underarm sweat... and remember, perfume just camouflages your natural smells, does not remove it. Lume kills bacteria that cause smells. You could also change your scrub top half way through the day. Also eating onions and garlic makes body odor worse. Good luck! There are so many other smells in the hospital I am sure your BO is the last thing on anyone's mind 🙂

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