Yes, shaving armpit hair can reduce sweat, especially if you’re overly hairy in your underarm.
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 armpit more room to breathe more easily.
However, this is really only effective if you’re overly hairy or if you have quite bushy or thick hair in your underarm.
If you have thin hair, on the other hand, you won’t notice a significant reduction in sweat even if you shave your armpit hair.
So if you want to reduce armpit sweat, shaving your armpit 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 Armpit? 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.
Unfortunately, your armpit only contains Apocrine glands.
So you might sweat a lot in your underarms, which can produce a very bad odor (for the most part).
Armpit 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 your armpit, being two fleshy armpit skin pressed together, creates the ideal space for sweat to collect and develop with no place to go.
Add other factors such as wearing tight clothing and a hot temperature, then you’ve got a sweaty armpit.
This happens to everyone. It just so happens that there are people who sweat more than others.
For some people, this can get so bad that their armpit sweat can even lead to leaving sweat marks on clothes.
Will Shaving Armpit Hair Reduce Sweat?
As I stated above, yes, shaving armpit hair can help reduce sweat production but only if you have a lot of armpit hair.
Otherwise, if you only have a few or you have thin armpit hair, shaving it all off won’t lead to a significant difference.
There are much better ways to reduce armpit sweat aside from shaving your armpit hair. I will discuss each of these in more detail below.
Wear Breathable Clothing
Many people don’t know that changing the types of clothes you wear every day can have a significant effect on how much moisture your armpit produces.
Wearing the right type of shirt/top can help to keep your armpit cool and dry.
- Consider wearing breathable ones; something that is less restrictive.
- 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 armpit. You should avoid buying wear made with these types of fabric.
Use Body Powder for Your Armpit
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 berries.
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 construction.
However, body powder can be just as effective in reducing sweat when applied to your armpit.
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 armpit 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 armpit hair reduce sweat?
Yes, shaving armpit hair can help reduce sweat in there, especially if you have a lot of it.
This is because armpit 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 armpit more room to breathe more.
However, this is only effective if you have a lot of armpit 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 your armpit 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 armpit hair, will do wonders to reduce armpit sweat.