Yes, having more hair can make you sweat more. Just as shaving body hair can reduce sweat, especially if you’re overly hairy.
They can aggravate sweat glands leading to the production of excess sweat.
In addition, it can prevent sweat from evaporating, and may even trap unpleasant odors.
So, giving it a trim/shave/wax (whatever you prefer) can give your skin more room to breathe.
However, this is really only effective if you’re overly hairy or if you have quite bushy or thick hair.
If you have thin hair, on the other hand, you won’t notice a significant reduction in sweat even if you shave your body hair.
So if you want to reduce bodily sweat, shaving the hair can help, but there are much more effective options out there (which I will discuss below).
Nevertheless, it is still worthwhile to do so as it does provide some key hygienic benefits.
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Experiencing Sweaty Skin? Here’s Why
Your body has two types of sweat glands:
- Eccrine glands – secrete a mixture of salt and water which function to cool your skin and lower the temperature of your body. This is odorless.
- Apocrine glands – produce that smelly substance that we usually associate with sweating.
Some part of the body only contains eccrine glands. So you might sweat a lot there, but at least it doesn’t have an odor (for the most part).
Therefore, body sweat is caused by the same things that result in a higher body temperature and the production of sweat in other body parts.
These include the following:
- being in a hot place
- exercising / going to the gym
- feeling stressed or anxious
- wearing thick or synthetic fabrics
Aside from the above, there’s also the fact that some areas of the body like the armpit pressed together, create the ideal space for sweat to collect and develop with no place to go.
Add other factors such as wearing tight pants and a hot temperature, then you’ve got sweaty skin.
This happens to everyone.
It just so happens that there are people who sweat more than others. For example, some people experience backside sweat.
For these people, this can get so bad that sweat in their backside can even lead to leaving sweat marks on chairs.
Will Shaving Body Hair Reduce Sweat?
As I stated above, yes, shaving body hair can help reduce sweat production down but only if you have a lot of hair.
Otherwise, if you only have a few or you have thin hair, shaving it all off won’t lead to a significant difference.
There are much better ways to reduce sweat aside from shaving bodily hair. I will discuss each of these in more detail below.
Wear Breathable and Non-Synthetic Underwear
Many people don’t know that changing the types of clothes and underwear you wear every day can have a significant effect on how much moisture you produce down there.
Wearing the right type of underwear can help to keep your backside cool and dry.
- Consider wearing breathable ones; something that is less restrictive: boxers are a good option, as well as boxer shorts.
- Natural fabrics like cotton allow your skin to breathe and may be an excellent fabric choice. Synthetic fabrics, on the other hand, such as nylon and polyester, are particularly non-breathable and may enhance the odor emanating from your body. You should avoid buying underwear made with these types of fabric.
Use Body Powder Where You Sweat a Lot
Body powders are very effective in mitigating and preventing sweat, bad body odors, as well as skin chafing and irritation. Most people, like me, use body powder on their two orbs down there.
This is especially common for those who work in industries that require a lot of manual labor and standing under the sun, such as in the case of construction workers.
However, body powder can be just as effective in reducing sweat when applied to the affected area.
I personally love the Chassis Premium Body Powder, which is talc-free and has a very light scent (mix of Old Spice + pumpkin).
For women, I think the Fromonda (Cool Mint) Body Powder (also talc-free), is an excellent option.
I have a more comprehensive guide regarding the top men’s body powders in this article here.
Applying body powder is more effective than just simply shaving your hair because body powders actually have properties that allow them to absorb excess moisture.
Plus, it also helps in reducing skin chafing and irritation.
Summary
Going back to the original question: Does shaving body hair reduce sweat?
Yes, shaving body hair can help reduce sweat down there, especially if you have a lot of it.
This is because the hair can aggravate your sweat glands, resulting in the production of excess sweat.
It can even prevent sweat from evaporating, and may even trap bad odors.
So, trimming/shaving/waxing (whatever you prefer), can give your body more room to breathe down there.
However, this is only effective if you have a lot of hair. If you don’t, shaving it off won’t lead to a significant difference.
There are more effective options out there.
In particular, I would recommend you to wear more breathable underwear made of natural fabrics like cotton.
In addition, applying body powder to those sweaty areas can also be quite effective at mitigating and preventing sweat, unpleasant odors, as well as skin chafing and irritation.
These two methods, coupled with shaving your hair, will do wonders to reducing body sweat down there.