Mitchum, a well-known deodorant brand, faced new complaints today as men reported severe pain after using their products.

Recently, numerous women have shared on social media about experiencing sudden ‘agonising’ rashes and burns from Mitchum’s roll-on deodorants, with some needing creams and antibiotics to treat the symptoms.

Images of irritated red armpits have circulated widely on platforms like TikTok, as users express distress over the painful red welts spreading across their skin.

Meanwhile, men have reported to the Daily Mail that they, too, needed medical creams due to painful rashes and burning caused by the deodorants—one even reported losing all his armpit hair.

Mitchum responded via Instagram, apologizing to customers and explaining that a change in the manufacturing process of one of their raw materials has altered how the product affects some people’s skin.

‘We are sorry to those who were impacted and for the time it took to complete the investigation,’ it added. 

Experts, however, told the Daily Mail they were shocked the painful side effects were not discovered earlier. 

One man, Ricky Blair from Ipswich, Suffolk claimed he bought one of the affected roll on deodorant’s in July.

But just an hour after applying the new product as normal, the 35-year-old developed a rash, ‘agonising’ burning sensation and itch. 

‘I’ve used Mitchum for years, it’s been a really good product so I had no idea it was the deodorant at fault,’ he told the Daily Mail. 

‘I ended up having to use an emollient cream for a whole week to treat the itchiness and calm the burning rash. 

‘I’ve seen many videos recently of women discussing their problems with the reformulated product, but I want to highlight that men can experience these issues too.’

‘It’s something that men should look out for.  

I’ve stopped using Mitchum completely, I won’t be using the brand for a long long time.’ 

In one TikTok video seen hundreds of times, London-based theatre actor Marc Antolin, also said: ‘I have been a Mitchum user for years.’

Holding up one the brand’s ‘clean control’ roll-on deodorant’s he added: ‘I had one of the new batches with the change in ingredients and I got a reaction to it. 

‘It was painful. I sweat a lot, especially during shows, and I don’t know what the alternative is to this deodorant.’ 

David, from Surrey, meanwhile, told the Daily Mail he suffered a reaction over three years ago in 2022 after using Mitchum’s ‘Ice fresh’ Men’s Ultra Powerful Anti-Sweat roll-on deodorant. 

‘I had the product less than a month. It burnt both armpits, it took all the hair off and I had a lot of hair under my arms. It’s never grown back again,’ the 73-year-old solicitor told the Daily Mail. 

‘It was the first time I’d used the deodorant because my normal brand was difficult to get hold of. 

‘I thought perhaps it was something wrong with me at the time, because I hadn’t heard of anyone else experiencing the same side effects. 

‘After I’d apply it, I’d feel a burn and it got worse, the whole of the armpit went completely red,’ he claimed. 

‘I have a lot of hair on my body and had a lot of hair under my armpits. 

‘I was concerned that this burning ingredient had gone through my skin,’ he claimed. 

‘As soon as I stopped using it, the burning and rash stopped.’ 

Experts have suggested that the burning, itchy armpits may be due to two specific new ingredients in the eight affected products. 

Professor Penny Ward, a pharmaceutical expert at King’s College London, told the Daily Mail: ‘The contents of the “new” format includes acetyl cedrene which has been shown to be an irritant in patch testing as well as vanillin which can also be a skin irritant in some individuals. 

‘Generally the irritant chemicals are most likely to be those which are the added fragrances.

‘In general most dermatitis rashes are itchy rather than painful, pain might be an indication of infection and might need treatment with an antibiotic or antifungal cream. 

‘If one develops a reaction to a topical product its a good idea to stop using it and switch to something else-after the rash has settled. 

‘Occasionally it may need to be settled down with a topical antihistamine or corticosteroid cream which can be obtained with pharmacy advice.’

But she also added: ‘For a pharmaceutical product, any changes made to the manufacturing methods have to be qualified and the product has to be demonstrated to be safe and effective with appropriate pre clinical and clinical tests. 

‘I am surprised that this side effect was not picked up as part of the validation process. 

‘The rules for cosmetics are not so stringent, although they are being strengthened by regulators.

‘Manufacturers may in future need to demonstrate that manufacturing changes do not impact the safety of the final product in a similar manner to a pharmaceutical product.’ 

One Danish study recently found that deodorants were the leading cause of fragrance allergy, especially for men.

Irritant contact dermatitis is the most common type of contact dermatitis.

It occurs when a substance damages or inflames the skin. It typically develops at the first sign of contact between the skin and irritating substance. 

Irritant contact dermatitis can be easier to identify because symptoms usually arise immediately, causing stinging or discomfort.

Allergic contact dermatitis is a delayed allergic reaction that appears as a rash a day or two after skin is exposed to the allergen. 

It is caused by the body mounting an inflammatory response to a specific ingredient. 

With repeated use, your immune system recognises the substance as an allergen, and it causes an itchy skin response.