What is Hyperhidrosis? A Thorough Guide to Excessive Sweating
Sweating is perfectly normal and it happens to all people. But excessive sweating can make you feel insecure and embarrassed. It may stain your clothes or even worse, cause bad body odor. This leads to a multitude of self-esteem issues which ultimately prevents you from looking and feeling your best.
Excessive sweating is a common medical condition called hyperhidrosis in which 4.8% of the global population are affected. But despite its prevalence, many people are still clueless (and ashamed!) to talk about what exactly is hyperhidrosis.
In order to guide you, the board-certified dermatologists at Skin MD present all the important facts you need to know about hyperhidrosis—including the types, causes, and advisable treatments to get rid of excessive sweating.
Your No Sweat Guide to Hyperhidrosis
What is Hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis, also known as polyhidrosis or sudorrhea, is a medical disorder in which an individual may experience excessive sweating more than the body would normally need. This is not caused by any external factors (such as physical activity or emotional feelings) and can either affect a specific area or the whole body.
And while this kind of sweating is not life-threatening in any way, it could still be extremely uncomfortable and might even affect confidence, emotional well-being, and wardrobe choices.
Which Parts of the Body Experience Excessive Sweating?
Hyperhidrosis occurs in many different parts of one’s body. However, the following are the most commonly affected areas that suffer from excessive sweating.
Face and Head - Excessive sweating that occurs from this part of the body is called the craniofacial hyperhidrosis. It is commonly characterized by beads of sweat pouring down from your scalp, face, and head.
Armpits - Axillary hyperhidrosis usually leads to sweat dripping down your arms, without any emotional or external factors. The end result is almost always clothing pieces that are soaking wet from sweat.
Hands and Palms - Excessive hand sweating, or palmar hyperhidrosis, causes perspiration of your palms. The condition can also be so extreme that your hands drip with sweat and are chronically damp. This ultimately makes it hard and tricky to grasp objects.
Feet and Soles - Plantar hyperhidrosis is the cause of extreme sweating at the soles of your feet. And like palmar hyperhidrosis, this can also be so excessive which makes your socks and shoes soaking wet. Furthermore, it can lead to an increased foot odor.
Back - Excessive sweating on the back, or truncal hyperhidrosis, is very uncomfortable as it leads to dripping and staining.
Groin - Excess perspiration around the groin area is called inguinal hyperhidrosis. This kind of sweating causes all sorts of problems from soaking through your undergarments and pants to itching and even infection when left untreated.
What are the Types of Hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, can actually be divided into two categories: primary and secondary.
Primary “Focal” Hyperhidrosis - Like what the name suggests, people with primary hyperhidrosis experience excessive sweating only in “focal areas” of their bodies, namely underarms, palms, legs, feet, face, and head.
However, most individuals will actually have more than one part of their bodies affected which causes equal sweating on both sides of their bodies. Furthermore, they rarely suffer from night sweating while asleep.
Secondary “Generalized“ Hyperhidrosis - Secondary hyperhidrosis affects the whole body, not just specific areas. This type of excessive sweating can also further worsen during adulthood and can be experienced during the night while sleeping.
What are the Causes of Hyperhidrosis?
The causes of hyperhidrosis would depend on the specific type of condition you have.
For instance, primary “focal” hyperhidrosis can be triggered without any apparent reason. Although it has an unknown cause, excessive sweating of this type might be related to over-activity of the central nervous system which, in turn, stimulates the local sweat glands.
On the other hand, secondary “generalized” hyperhidrosis is actually caused by either an underlying and existing condition. These health conditions include diabetes, gout, lymphoma, hyperthyroidism, obesity, Parkinson’s disease, and Rheumatoid arthritis among many other diseases. Furthermore, secondary hyperhidrosis can also be an effect of different medications.
Who are at Risk in Getting Hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis is an extremely common medical condition with an estimated 1 to 3 in every 100 people suffering from the disease. It can affect both men and women alike and is usually hereditary (especially true to primary hyperhidrosis).
The disease can also develop at any age, although primary hyperhidrosis typically starts at childhood or just right after puberty in contrast to the late onset of secondary hyperhidrosis.
Here are the other risk factors in getting hyperhidrosis.
People with fair complexion - The absence of skin pigment, melanin, in your skin makes you less protected from UV radiation and more likely to sweat a lot.
People who are constantly exposed to radiation - The sun (especially without applying any sunblock), treatments of other skin conditions such as eczema, and tanning beds all contain large amounts of radiation. This ultimately stimulates excessive sweating in your body.
What are the Signs That You Have Hyperhidrosis?
The most common telltale sign that you have hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating anywhere in your body—from your face and head to your underarms, hands, legs, and feet.
However, since sweating is your body’s normal mechanism to cool itself, it might be quite confusing to tell apart if you suffer from hyperhidrosis or not. To guide you, here are the other signs and symptoms of this common condition.
Frequent sweating
Noticeable sweating that soaks your clothing
Wet or clammy palms of the hands
Wet or clammy soles of the feet
How Much Sweat is Normal?
If you’re still confused and worried about your sweating, you might just be asking yourself this exact question. But in fact, there’s really no exact answer to this query since everybody sweats. And each and every one of these individuals differs when it comes to how much exactly they sweat—with their gender, physical activity levels, and individual genetics all playing a role.
However, as a general rule of thumb, if you feel like you’ve been producing too much sweat regardless of any external stimulus (such as heat, physical activity or emotional feelings), then you probably have hyperhidrosis.
How Do You Diagnose Hyperhidrosis?
In order for a doctor or dermatologist to tell you if you have hyperhidrosis or not, he or she will conduct a physical exam in order to closely inspect the areas of the skin that sweats excessively.
The doctor will then ask you about the impact of excessive sweating in your life. This typically consists of the following questions:
Do you carry anything around to help with your bouts of excessive sweating, such as antiperspirants, napkins, pads, or towels?
Do you need to change your clothing a few times a day due to excessive sweating?
Does excessive sweating affect your behavior or mental state whenever you are in public?
Have you ever ignored (then lost) a friend due to excessive sweating?
Has excessive sweating impacted your career?
How often do you take a bath?
How often do you think about sweating, in general?
What are the Effects of Hyperhidrosis?
When hyperhidrosis is left undiagnosed and untreated, excessive sweating actually has an impact on one’s psychological and emotional well-being. In fact, it can even have a negative effect on your personal relationships, career choices, and self-image—with 75% of patients diagnosed with hyperhidrosis saying such.
Other people’s unaccepting perceptions of hyperhidrosis can also lead to cases of social isolation, anxiety disorders, and in worse cases, depression.
Aside from psychological impacts, untreated cases of hyperhidrosis can also lead to other medical complications. Warts and bacterial infections (especially around the hair follicle and in between the toes) are common. There’s also a chance of getting irritating heat rashes and unwanted body odor.
Did You Know? Of about 15.3 million Americans with hyperhidrosis, less than half (49%) of those individuals have actually discussed their condition with a professional.
What are the Treatments for Hyperhidrosis?
Fortunately, you don’t have to bear these troubles forever. There is a wide range of common treatments available for hyperhidrosis. However, the care for excessive sweating would still depend on its severity, location in your body, and your health factors.
Antiperspirant
This is usually the first treatment your doctor or dermatologist may prescribe as it’s affordable yet effective at the same time. These products contain 10% to 20% aluminum chloride hexahydrate which plugs the sweat glands in your body once directly applied to the skin. This effectively works because when your body detects the plug, it automatically stops the production of excessive sweat.
However, since the antiperspirant sits on top of your skin, it may lead to irritation and a burning sensation whenever applied. Call your dermatologist immediately if any of these side effects occur.
Did You Know? Other doctors would even recommend antiperspirants with larger doses of aluminum in order to treat extreme cases of hyperhidrosis. Do note that these can actually damage clothing and your skin.
Iontophoresis
Iontophoresis temporarily stops excessive sweating by delivering low-voltage electrical currents to the affected areas through a medical device. The main advantage of this treatment is the fact that it can be done in the comfort of your own home.
However, since it requires you to submerge a part of your body in a shallow pan of water, your arms or feet are the only suitable candidates for this particular hyperhidrosis treatment. Most people would also need about 6 to 10 treatments to block their sweat glands which may be very time-consuming. Others also reported dry and irritated skin after constant use of this treatment.
Botulinum toxin
Botulinum toxin, or simply Botox, is another suitable option that can safely treat axillary (underarm) hyperhidrosis. It can also be used to treat the hand (palmar hyperhidrosis) area but extra precaution must be followed.
The Botox procedure involves the introduction of a particular prescription medicine to the problematic body part. This medicine then paralyzes the nerves around the surrounding area which effectively reduces the amount of sweat your body produces. The results of Botox injection can last for up to 6 months.
Prescription medicine
Oral medications can also be prescribed by your doctor or dermatologist to treat hyperhidrosis. These medicines temporarily prevent your sweat glands from working which can be extremely useful to stop sweating in different areas of the body.
Unfortunately, this type of treatment is not for everyone as each medicine has its own side effects. Athletes, people who work in high-temperature places, and anyone who lives in warm climates should avoid these types of medicine as their bodies may not be able to cool themselves.
Prescription cloth wipes
This particular treatment for hyperhidrosis is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The procedure works by applying individually wrapped cloth wipes—filled with glypyrronium tosylate to effectively reduce underarm sweating—on the surface of the skin.
However, possible side effects may still occur such as dryness around the mouth, redness, and stinging sensation where the wipe touched the skin.
Tip: Avoid using these prescription cloth wipes to children below 9 years of age as their skin is still delicate.
Surgery
If the aforementioned treatments all fail to bring substantial results, your doctor or dermatologist may recommend you to undergo surgery to treat severe cases of hyperhidrosis. However, before considering this kind of treatment, it’s important to know that surgery is permanent and often irreversible.
Excision (cutting off sweat glands), curettage (scraping it off) and liposuction (removing it with suction) are all effective surgical techniques to treat axillary hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating in your underarm. These procedures come with several complications, though, such as scarring and patient immobilization.
Fortunately, there’s a viable alternative called laser surgery that can target axillary hyperhidrosis. This is a safe, effective, and minimally invasive procedure to treat excessive sweating.
If you have a very severe case of hyperhidrosis, another type of surgery you can consider to permanently stop excessive sweating is sympathectomy. The procedure involves cutting off specific nerves responsible for signaling the body to sweat excessively. It’s most effective for people suffering from palmar (hands) and craniofacial (face) hyperhidrosis compared to axillary (underarm) hyperhidrosis. However, this has serious side effects such as loss of feeling in the affected area and compensatory sweating.
When it comes to all of these hyperhidrosis procedures, make sure to only consult a doctor or a dermatologist in order to ensure you’re getting the right treatment for your condition.
Skin MD, the board-certified dermatologists in Pasig, offers medical consultations that include antiperspirants, oral medications, and iontophoresis. Aside from these effective treatments, Skin MD also provides Botox injections to reduce the amount of sweat you produce.
How to Cope with Hyperhidrosis: 8 Tips to Minimize Excessive Sweating
Living with hyperhidrosis can be extremely tough. And although medical treatments are the best (and guaranteed!) way to stop excessive sweating, making a few lifestyle changes doesn’t hurt either. In order to make the condition much easier to live with, here are 8 tips you can try on your own.
1. Eat Healthy Foods
Your diet can actually impact how much you sweat. In fact, there are some foods that activate your sweat glands. These include fatty and processed foods, spicy dishes, garlic and onions, liquor and beer, and caffeine.
If you really want to tone down the amount of sweat you produce, you can switch to a healthier diet and focus on low fibre content. Try the following foods as it can actually calm overactive sweat glands:
Almonds
Bananas
Food with high calcium content such as milk and cheese
Green tea
Oats
Olive oil
Sweet potatoes
Vegetables with high water content such as broccoli, cabbage, cantaloupe, eggplant, and spinach
Watermelon
2. Stay Hydrated
Aside from eating healthy, you should also drink plenty of water (about 12-13 cups) to keep your body cool and prevent excessive sweating. Doing so also minimizes your chance of getting dehydrated which actually lets you sweat more.
3. Wear the Right Clothing
Wearing tight clothes and bright-colored garments can make you sweat more. In addition, donning these types of clothing can make sweat marks apparent and more obvious.
Opt to wear looser clothing with light and breathable fabric to draw less attention to your sweat. Look for cotton and bamboo materials for your garments as they provide proper ventilation to help keep you cool. This ultimately makes you less likely to sweat excessively.
There are also various paddings—such as underarm linings and shoe inserts—that you can wear in order to absorb sweat and minimize staining.
4. Take a Bath Everyday
Make sure to shower daily in order to eliminate the bacteria that inhabits your sweaty skin due to hyperhidrosis. This is especially true if you live in a hot, humid climate as the weather’s also a big factor of excessive sweating. When not taken care of, these microorganisms can spread across your body and cause unwanted body odor.
5. Apply Antiperspirant
After taking a bath, don’t forget to apply antiperspirants that your doctor or dermatologist prescribed. Unlike deodorant that only kills off the odor under your arms, antiperspirants not only eliminate odor-causing bacteria but also blocks out sweat glands from producing excess moisture.
However, in order to maximize its benefits, you should know how to use it properly. For one, do not apply it to skin that’s already sweaty—only put it on dry and clean skin. Make sure to also shave any hair on your underarm as it can block the antiperspirant from working effectively. Lastly, be patient as it could take up to a few days in order for you to experience the full effect.
6. Avoid Smoking
Smoking raises your body temperature and makes your heart beat faster which, in turn, results to overactive sweat glands. Aside from these, smoking can lead to further complications such as bad breath, stained teeth, and lung cancer.
So in order to take care of your health and reduce excessive sweating, you should seriously avoid smoking.
7. Exercise Regularly
Daily exercising may seem a little contradicting as any physical activity always gets your sweat glands overactive. Having said that, doing so can actually help your body limit the amount of sweat it excretes as well as help you stay cooler in everyday situations.
By exercising regularly, you’re also helping your body get into shape which ultimately keeps you from sweating excessively due to heavy physical activity.
Did You Know? Individuals who are overweight or obese are more likely to be diagnosed with hyperhidrosis than people with normal weight. However, this doesn’t mean that excessive sweating only affects overweight individuals—it can happen to people of all sizes and ages.
8. Try Meditation
Hyperhidrosis can make you extremely self-conscious and even trigger anxiety for some. With this condition, there’s a high probability that you spent your day over thinking about what people have to say to your excessive rounds of sweating. These negative thoughts can actually make you more likely to sweat.
Fortunately, you can reduce this kind of unnecessary stress through simple exercises such as meditation. Start to prepare yourself mentally by breathing in deeply through your nose. Hold the breath for about 3 seconds then exhale slowly through your mouth. Doing this everyday can help stop over thinking and reduce anxiety.
These lifestyle changes and tips make it possible to minimize the amount of sweat your body produces. But at the end of the day, it’s still best to make an appointment with a doctor or dermatologist to properly treat your condition.
ALSO READ: 7 Types of Underarm Hair Removal Methods to Help You Achieve Flawless Skin
While not life-threatening in any way, hyperhidrosis is a common medical condition that affects many individuals’ lives. It is characterized by excessive sweating despite the absence of external stimuli and is often misunderstood and misdiagnosed. Hopefully, with this article, you learned more about the symptoms, causes, types, and the treatments for the condition.
Do you still have questions about hyperhidrosis? Feel free to contact the board-certified dermatologists of Skin MD. We’ll be happy to answer any remaining questions you may have about excessive sweating.
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