How do "dirty" people NOT know they smell?

They get used to the smell it's like the cat lady that doesn't realize her entire house smells like a cat! It stinks!

I remember this past summer in my bowling league how this one guy on the other team smelled so badly. He obviously did not put deodorant on. The smell was horrific and it was difficult to concentrate on bowling. It was just horrible. I hope that I never have to smell that again. He seemed like the type who did not care but I am sure he knows other people could tell.

It is really hard to smell yourself. I think it's because you are around yourself all the time and just don't notice it as much. I know sometimes though i get a sniff of soemthing if I'm outside ands weating alot. Other then that you really don't notice your own smells.

i think personal smell is very difficult to detect for the person giving it off, maybe they rely on helpful people to do that for them, now how does one do that?

My brother-in-law and sister-in-law lead a high school youth group in Minnesota. They have a couple of girls that they describe as being bright, beautiful and very likeable ... except that they stink. Their mother has a sister who has cancer and their mother believes that it's linked to deodorant (or something used in deodorant). So her daughter's aren't allowed to use deodorant and they suffer because of it. I think it's really sad. Honestly, what doesn't cause cancer? And how can anyone be sure that their aunts got cancer because of deodorant?? So, some people are stinky because they're lazy, or because of medical reasons, others apparently have paranoid mothers.

I guess that the problem is that when you stink, you get used to the smell and it's really hard to tell that you're living with that smell anymore. Of course, it does bother me to think of someone who has been kindly informed about having such a problem who would continue to stink like that, unless there were truly something wrong with them where they could not. I mean, if it truly is just a matter of them not bathing, or taking care of themselves, then eww. LOL. I'm sure that we've all had rare days where we woke up so late we couldn't get a bath or shower, or days where we forgot our deodorant. But if someone stinks all the time and won't even listen to you when you tell them about it, that's a little bit sad.

Damaged olfactory perceptors, perhaps? Perhaps they just don't care to put chemicals all over themselves all the time, stanky, but alive,lol.

I think you jsut stop noticing. I worry about this a bit, if I've been out all day - do I smell? But you can't really smell yourself, so what can you do? I'm confident my friends would tell me, though.

omg, i used to work with a lady that smelled so bad, i used to have bath and body lotions on my desk just so that i could put them on so i couldn't smell her and she in turned told out supervisor that my lotions were bothering her allergies. so i was the one that got in trouble but i told our supervisor why i was doing it and she eventually moved my seat to a different desk away from this lady.

Eeek, I have been in this situation. My mate used to live with a guy who refused to shower, and he never washed his clothes or anything. My mate told me the smelly guy had worn the same clothes for at least a week on numerous occasions, change into another set of clothes for a week, and then change back into the first set without washing them at all. My mate sat him down and begged him to take a shower - that he would feel better if he did, and all my mate copped was abuse.

There was this kid one time at my schoo in high school who was smart, got a's all the time, but he wasnt social at all, and he sometimes forgot to shower or put deodurant on , but he had some kind of mental illness i can't remember what it was, the nurse had came by all of his classes to inform us on the first day of classes. But he stank up to high heaven.

I totally agree with you. I am an Admin Assistant and have had to do the write up for someone that had been talked to numerous times for their body odor. The supervisors unfortunately had to talk to two of the guys who worked there many times. If either of them would come into the office you could smell them coming, and smell that they had been there for quite some time. I really think that with one of them it was a case of laziness, but the other guy I am not so sure. He had a big cabinet in his work area full of things he shared with others, like headache medicine, snacks etc., and I know he had deoderant in there. Maybe with him it was a medical issue, who knows? I know with myself some deoderants work better than others, but I think I will take the time and money to find that one that works for me!!! The other guy though, not only did he smell bad, his breath was terrible as well. My manager once had me go and talk to him to find out what he wanted for his anniversary lunch because he said he would gag if he had to go and talk to him!!!! The guy was so nice, I felt bad for him sometimes. I just tried not to breathe when I had to talk to him.

Offer the guy a bar of lava soap, well it what I have done to a Tech I hired. Never said a word ,just left it on his desk taped to a can of right-guard:).... It worked too. Have not smelled him since..

I think theres a difference between people that show up to work already reeking of bad body odor and the ones that dont but accumulate it while working. people that do tend to smell should try to keep their distance from other people. some people dont realize that if they can smell themself everyone else can. next time maybe make a comment that...wow! you look like you've been working hard! I bet you can't wait to get home to get a good hot shower and relax!

I think quite often the people with bad hygiene grew up around it and have just grown used to not taking care of themselves, they probably think nothing of it. What's even more sad though,is that in some cases people are suffering from medical conditions like depression and they feel so badly about themselves, that they lose the will to take care of their bodies.

Oh, I know what you mean, totally...I mean, I can tell immediately if I start to stink and I try to stay out of nose reach of others until I have taken care of the problem. It makes me want to hurl when I can smell myself, so I don't want others to feel that way. And what's weird is, I can take a shower a few hours before and still start to stink...perhaps it's a sign of old age for me...lol

I think we can blame it on the functioning of our nose. It can only distinguish between good and bad smell for a small period of time, then it gets adjusted. I hope this makes people not knowing how bad they smell.

I used to work with someone like that, He stunk, everyone on th aisle had air fresheners all over. Maybe he did not smell it, maybe he got used to his smell. People would leave soap, shampoo and deodorant in his desk and he did not take the hint. I never understood my someone in mamangement did not talk to him..other then they could not or would not get that close to him. E-mail would have worked to. Beats me.

I believe they know and just don't care. I don't know if it's because they don't want to spend the money on soap and deodorant or if they think going ALL NATURAL is a turn on for us all to smell. It's disgusting though.

Apparently, people who have body odor cannot smell themselves. It's got something to do with their Endocrine system. Their brain tells them that they smell normal so they don't notice the awful smell that people around them experience (much to our disadvantage). It's also due to the fact that they're exposed to the smell practically 24 hours a day so their olfactory nerves (nose) get used to the smell.