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Horrible smelling client......

Help! There is a new patient in our office that smells H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E

I know I posted a question awhile back about foot odor and what can help with that. I have since ordered Khepra Foot Balm (which works great on foot odor and the clients love the way it makes their feet feel)But now I need something for a client that just smells terrible. The room needs to be Febreezed when she leaves just to cover up the smell she leaves behind. It's not body odor it's like she smells like a zoo. I don't know how many cats or dogs she has but it has to be alot or they are using the house as a place to go potty because that is what she smells like. I don't know what to do because it's really hard to work on her with her smelling so badly. And then it feels like YOU smell like her the rest of the day. It's THAT bad.

How would you handle a situation like this? Do you say something? I can't refuse to work on her. I know that wouldn't go over well with the doctor. (if he was stuck with her for an hour he might refuse to work on her!)

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Permalink Reply by Travis Alligood on September 21, 2012 at 7:57pm

Maybe try Essential Oils

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Permalink Reply by Gordon J. Wallis on September 21, 2012 at 11:50pm

Once a year I deal with that... I remember last year... This guy came in for a massage... His body odor was so bad, I was gagging... But I didnt have the nerve, or the heart, to tell him that...So I just gutted it out for an hour... After the massage I went into the bathroom and took off my shirt and through it in the trash.... Washed my body with soap as best I could... Luckily I had another shirt in my locker that I could put on.... I had to lysol the room, because his odor lingered. But that only happens once a year....And no way essential oils would solve that problem... Not talking about stinky feet.. lol Fortunately that doesn't happen often... I didnt want to have that smell because of my other clients...I had to throw that shirt away... I hope I dont have to deal with that again...NOT FUN.

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Permalink Reply by Carrie Patrick on September 25, 2012 at 3:55pm

Ohhhhh boy. What a situation to be in. Here's a two-part podcast, quite lengthy, which might be useful -- it's aimed at office managers and how to sensitively bring up the topic with an employee who has a body odor problem, but I think the general principles all apply.

Part 1 (the really specific what to say/how to say it part starts around the 8 minute mark)