Wondering Why?

Why Do Old People Smell?

Why Do Old People Smell?

First of all, not all old people smell bad. It really varies from person to person. There are some controllable and some not so controllable reasons for those elderly folk who do smell strongly though.

A lot of the smell can actually come from medications that elderly people take, and because they take so much, they often have lots of by products in the skin or elsewhere, which often have very strong odors. Medications and vitamins generally produce lots of by products and the like, but younger bodies are able to filter and clean them out, but older bodies have more trouble with this.

Another cause is the combination of Ben-gay and baby powder for arthritis, which just in general has a very strong odor. Other particularly smelly substances that old people commonly use are moth balls, but this has more to do with the house than the person themselves, as moth balls just aren’t as common as they used to be.

The body is also decaying, and cells are dying. This is particularly evident in the odors that emanate from orifices that connect the inside of the body to the outside, such as the mouth (especially bad when there is decaying teeth and dentures with denture pastes), nose, ears, and much more.

Another cause is actually the lack of washing, including themselves, because elderly folks do not regularly take a bath or shower because they can’t do it themselves or because they are afraid of breaking a hip or hurting themselves another way, especially without someone there to help them if they fall. They will also avoid washing their clothing, personal possessions and their house, as it is a whole lot of extra work for them that they have trouble doing, because they cannot lift the laundry basket, or because they just have no desire or time to do so. Also, lack of exercise makes toxins stay inside the body: regular exercise eliminates toxins that are then washed away by showering, but lack of exercise keeps those toxins in the body.

1 User Submission

  1. I’ve never met an old person who smelled bad, my grandma always smells really nice everytime she visits.

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