Excessive Sweating
How to deal with hyperhydrosis
Excessive sweating may not be a threat to your physical health, but it will sure not win you any points. Excessive underarm sweating, excessive armpit sweating and excessive foot sweating are all hygienic and social no-nos.
Hands, feet, armpits and the groin area are among the most active regions of perspiration due to their relatively high concentrations of sweat glands; however, any part of the body may be affected by sweating or excessive sweating, called hyperhidrosis.
Types of Hyperhidrosis
Hyperhidrosis can be primary—starting during adolescence or earlier—or secondary— developing later in life. Primary hyperhidrosis seems to be genetically inherited. Secondary hyperhidrosis, by contrast, may have to do with other underlying disorders of the thyroid or pituitary gland, diabetes mellitus, tumors, gout, menopause, certain drugs or mercury poisoning. In truth, doctors do not know for sure what causes either form of hyperhidrosis, although some theorize that it is due to overactive sympathetic nerves.
Hyperhidrosis Remedies
Though the cause may be unclear, hyperhidrosis does tend to have certain triggers. Anxiety exacerbates it, as do nicotine, caffeine and certain foods, drinks and smells. A healthy lifestyle will thus probably help to control it.
Individuals with hyperhidrosis use custom deodorants with added amounts of aluminum chloride (which is present in regular deodorants, too, but in smaller quantities).
Injections of Botulinum toxin type A can be used to disable the sweat glands. One injection will work for four to nine months, after which another is needed.
In a procedure called percutaneous sympathectomy, the sympathetic nerve triggering the excessive sweat is blocked by an injection of phenol. This, too, allows for temporary relief in most cases.
Several anticholinergic medications also work against hyperhidrosis. Ditropan is among them, although its side effects—drowsiness, visual impairments and dryness in the mouth and other mucus membranes—are too strong for some patients. Doctors sometimes prescribe Robinul, though its side effects are similar to those of Ditropan. Other drugs that are used include Probanthine and Cogentin.
When patients do not benefit from medications, doctors might recommend surgery. An endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy cuts, burns or clamps the main sympathetic chain that runs alongside the spine. Another procedure, sweat gland suction, removes approximately 30 percent of the patient's sweat glands.