It's no secret that STD testing can help you protect your sexual health, but did you know that it can also help you avoid giving off an unpleasant smell? According to research recently published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, men with certain STDs may be more likely to emit unpleasant bodily odors than those who aren't infected.
Almost half of the men who participated in the study had been previously diagnosed with gonorrhea, and when their collective scent was put to the test, the women tasked with evaluating their odors seemed to agree that those who were infected gave off a more offensive smell than the participants who were STD-free.
While men infected with gonorrhea don’t always experience symptoms, many don’t learn that they have the disease until they undergo STD testing. But perhaps this new study will motivate sexually active men to be more proactive about STD testing in general. After all, it’s one thing to walk around with an asymptomatic disease, but foul-smelling body odor is a whole other story.
