Table of contents:
- The human nose can detect trillions of odors
- Why is it so hard to smell your own body?
- How do you smell your own body?
You may have a reflex in trying to bring your nose to your armpit for fear of body odor. However, you don't even smell anything, whether it's body odor or perfume that has just been sprayed on your clothes. Have you ever wondered why you can smell other people's bodies, but not your own? Find out the following facts.
The human nose can detect trillions of odors
Entering the rainy season, you can smell the soothing scent of the earth. Likewise with the smell of grass after being hit by the rain, the arousing aroma of pizza, to the unpleasant smell of socks due to sweating.
You can even smell the body or smell of other people's perfume when you are around him. Because indeed, a study in the journal Nature in 2014 revealed that humans have the ability to smell one trillion kinds of odors in the world, you know!
You may have been diligent in taking a shower and using deodorant to avoid bad body odor. But without realizing it, the friend at the next table was still avoiding and complaining about the bad smell. Instantly you smell your armpits reflexively, but it turns out that you don't even smell anything. How could that be?
Why is it so hard to smell your own body?
It is very easy to smell other people's bodies. Yes, you just sit next to it and you can smell it right away. Unfortunately, this is not true if you are trying to smell your own body odor. Why is that, huh?
This condition is calledolfactory fatigue, namely when the human sense of smell is accustomed to smell and recognize certain types of odors. So often, the odor receptors in the nose get tired and eventually stop detecting this type of smell. This applies to you when you are trying to smell your own body odor.
This was disclosed by Pamela Dalton, a psychologist from the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia. He reveals that when you smell a particular odor for the first time, the smell receptors in your nose send a signal to your brain and determine whether this smell is good or bad.
However, when you continue to smell the same scent every day, your brain will get used to receiving signals that recognize the smell. At this time, the brain will consider it as information that is no longer important.
For example like this, you install an automatic air freshener with lavender scent in the room. The air freshener can be set to spray its fragrance every 5, 10, or 30 minutes.
At first, you may notice every time the scent of lavender permeates the room. Over time, your nose gets used to smell the lavender scent until it doesn't recognize it anymore. You also move as usual in the room, as if you don't smell anything.
Likewise, when you wear perfume, you cannot smell the perfume that you use every day. But when you change perfume, the smell receptors in your nose will send signals to your brain to recognize a new type of smell. Again and again, your nose will get used to it and make you unable to smell the body or the perfume smells anymore. And so on.
How do you smell your own body?
Actually, you can smell your own body, you know! Eits, wait a minute. This is not a way of raising your hand and bringing your nose to your armpit so that the scent smells, huh.
You need something else in order to smell your own body. Not by wiping the surface of your armpits and kissing your fingers, but by taking off your shirt and sniffing the smell of the shirt.
Likewise if you want to check bad breath. You certainly can't smell bad breath by blowing your palms and sniffing the smell. The trick, lick the back of your hand or arm and let the saliva dry. After that, try sniffing the area of skin that you licked earlier.
Well, now you can try to smell body odor or bad breath yourself. Good luck!
