Underarm pH Imbalance: Why Does It Happen?

Your body is an incredible machine. It’s resilient, complicated and always working to keep you going. It also can be sensitive and easily thrown off by outside factors. A big contribution to strong underarm odor is the way your body handles pH imbalance. Natural deodorants like PiperWai need to work with your body in order to be effective. If the pH imbalance under your arms has changed, it can also change the way PiperWai interacts with your body and how your body manages sweat and odors. So why is your pH balance off?

• Hormonal changes
  Fluctuating hormonal levels attribute to pH imbalance; such as during pregnancy and breastfeeding.

• Stress from switching environments
  Start a new job recently? Move to a bigger city? Spending a prolonged amount of time in a more polluted area can throw off your body, as it tries to compensate for the change.

• Changing diets, medications or everyday product use
  Fluctuating dietary habits, use of medications and inconsistent use of everyday products can confuse your body and create a pH imbalance your underarms won’t appreciate.

  

Rebalancing your underarm pH

While PiperWai is pH-balanced, a pH imbalance can interrupt the product’s efficacy. The more alkaline or acidic the body’s pH becomes, the more difficult it is for PiperWai to work naturally with your body and underarms. An alkaline surface makes the body more prone to bacteria, which is the culprit behind underarm odors. (If you want to learn more about sweat and odor, read our recent blog post.) Your pH level must be either neutral, mildly acidic or mildly alkaline for it to work well with your natural underarm deodorant.

Unfortunately, the body’s pH imbalance is not common knowledge for many people looking to transition to a more natural lifestyle, which is why it’s important for us to educate our current and potential customers. If you’re noticing irritation or underarm odor after weeks, months or years of using PiperWai successfully, that’s a big sign that you need to rebalance your underarm pH.

Luckily, restoring pH balance under your arms isn’t hard and you may already have the tools in your own home. All you need is apple cider vinegar and some cotton balls. We’ve included instructions on how to rebalance your pH below:

• Combine equal parts apple cider vinegar and water (a tablespoon of each should be plenty).
• Apply this once daily prior to applying PiperWai, holding your arms up to allow it to dry completely first.
• After 1-2 weeks, you can wean your underarms off the ACV mixture.

Easy, right? 

We like to think of it as giving your armpits a tune-up so they are in tip-top shape. Even if your pH balance doesn’t change, we still recommend going through the apple cider vinegar steps every six months to keep on top of your underarm health.

Still have questions? Our customer service team is happy to work with you and can be reached at info@piperwai.com. Need to resupply your PiperWai? Buy the jar, stick, gift set or gift card here.