My partner (29M) and I (25F) have been together for 10 months. The relationship is fine, he treats me very well and does everything I could ask a partner to do for me.
He’s very handsome and kind, but he has terrible body odor. He cleans himself daily and has good hygiene practices, but he still smells bad very often.
He can’t tell when he stinks so he doesn’t know when he has B.O. At first, it wasn’t a huge problem because I thought we could find something to help keep him smell better.
But it’s been months, and I’ve tried getting him all sorts of hygiene products and educating him on what causes body odor and ways to prevent it.
I hint at maybe jumping in the shower when we’re going to bed if he does smell. But he would rather just shower in the morning before work.
This whole problem has made me struggle with attraction towards him. I don’t like to be close to him when he smells, and it makes it very hard to be intimate or romantic with him.
I’m at a point where I’m really struggling to want to keep this relationship going. He treats me so well, and I don’t want to let go of a healthy relationship. But I don’t know what else to do, his B.O. makes it so hard to be around him.
What can I do to fix his BO? Is this even worth any more of my time?
Netizens’ comments
- Has he been to a doctor, just to see if there’s a possible medical cause?
- (OP) Every time I mention going to a doctor, he brushes it off. There’s been other situations where I’ve suggested getting things looked at. He says he’ll look into it, but never does.
- Not to be crude, but does he seem to change his underwear often? I work with a 20-some year old guy who’s super nice but he smells putrid. And he doesn’t have that greasy, unkempt appearance that you’d expect. He smells rotten and my coworker and I can’t help but reluctantly notice that the smell seems to emanate from his pants.
Improper wiping habits combined with not washing between the cheeks could create an all-around stinkfest. The comments above about fungi/bacterial skin infections seem very likely in this scenario but if that’s not the case, the source could very well be his rear (sorry, this can’t be fun to ponder on).