~~TRIGGER WARNING~~ Just a head's up, there are some pretty gross photos in this blog post. But, I've always promised to keep it real with you guys...and if that means showing you photos of my armpits, then so be it! So, if you're grossed out easily, I would recommend skipping this post.
The last time I ever wore antiperspirant was on July 23, 2016.
I was visiting San Diego for my friend Stephanie's wedding. I had just bought a really cute little purple dress from Banana Republic, which fit well, but was unfortunately cut a bit tight in the armpit region.
Now, 99.8% of the time I "practice what I preach", meaning that I hardly ever wear antiperspirant. I don't own any. At that point in time, I was a strict Stank Stop convert. But, considering my fancy attire, and the fact that I was planning on dancing my butt off in a few hours, I thought "what the heck! what's the worst thing that could happen?" I borrowed a bit of my friend's Secret antiperspirant, and I went on with the day. I proceeded to have a blast at the wedding, and finished the evening without any huge pit stains on my new dress. Mission Accomplished! Or so i thought...
Returning home 2 days later, my armpits began to feel slightly irritated, then painful. And by the next day, I had developed large welts in both armpits!
Here is how the timeline went...
July 30: I had my first (blind) date with Tim, my now husband. We went for a casual hike around Emerald Bay in Lake Tahoe, and the entire time my armpits hurt. Like, HURT. I remember that they were so, so sore!
July 31: By now, the bumps had grown into large welts, so I decided it was best to take a trip down to Urgent Care. There, they were unable to tell me exactly what had caused them (shocking, I know) so they simply lanced the welts, and packed them with gauze (I know, Barf-o-Rama!)
I give Tim lots of credit for sticking around through this entire ordeal...most men would have run the other way! I guess the fact that he stuck around through my "armpit sores" tells you how much he really liked me! haha.
Aug 2: I returned to urgent care to have the packing removed and to have a new bandage applied.
Aug 8: By this date, a large number of new lesions had appeared in my armpit, and they were PAINFUL! My only course of action was to take a second trip to the urgent care. There I was diagnosed with MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection, which is caused by a type of staph bacteria that's become resistant to many of the antibiotics used to treat ordinary staph infections) and prescribed antibiotics to treat the infection.
Thankfully, after taking the antibiotics my body was able to successfully clear the infection. Obviously no one in the medical community was ever able to tell me what caused this severe reaction.
All I know is that after this experience, I completely swore off antiperspirants forever! And it's also a huge reason why i'm such a strong proponent of helping others eliminate toxic antiperspirants from their beauty cabinet!
So, if you or someone you know is still trying to find a natural deodorant that REALLY works (and will never result in a trip to urgent care), please send them our way! Because we'd love nothing more than to help them rid their medicine cabinet of crappy, toxic antiperspirants!
