Sweating is an important function of the body, thanks to which it can excrete metabolic products and control body temperature. When sweating in certain parts of the body, a liquid secret, i.e. sweat, is released through the sweat glands.
Usually a person produces a small amount of sweat in various parts of the body, and only during physical exertion or in hot weather there is more sweat than usual.
You can often meet people with increased sweating. At the same time, the palms are constantly wet, sweat flows down the face, back, or clothes are very damp in the armpits. With this specificity of the body, conventional antiperspirants are unable to solve the problem.
Sometimes in the area of increased sweating there is an unpleasant odor. This is due to the fact that sweat-decomposing bacteria multiply in such places, which is the main cause of the smell of sweat.
Sweating increases with an increase in body temperature or with an increase in ambient temperature, due to intense sports, with nervous strain, with increased excitement. is a natural reaction of the body.
Excessive sweating in some cases is an individual feature of the body. Hyperhidrosis does not pose any threat to health, but it can cause discomfort. Both women and men suffer from hyperhidrosis.
Sweat evaporates from the surface of the skin, thereby cooling the body. At the same time, sweating is not always a variant of the norm; sometimes hyperhidrosis develops against the background of various diseases. If a person has increased sweating throughout the body, then this may be a sign of a malfunction of the thyroid gland or a disorder of the nervous system, a decrease in blood sugar. Then you should consult a doctor and do a blood test.
Doctors do not have any specific diagnostic methods that would accurately determine whether a person has excessive or normal sweating. Therefore, the diagnosis of “hyperhidrosis” is made on the basis of the patient’s complaints, when sweating contributes to the deterioration of his quality of life.
Causes of Excessive Sweating
There are several reasons that can provoke excessive sweating:
Stress. With an excitable nervous system, certain parts of the body sweat heavily, for example, feet, palms, armpits, and the nasolabial triangle. This happens against the background of fear, with increased excitement, or when stress factors are exerted on the body. Sometimes a person’s palms sweat a lot even at the thought that he is about to shake hands. To cope with the problem, you need to contact a neurologist or psychotherapist. The doctor will clarify with the patient when exactly he has sweating attacks, what situations can provoke it. Then the doctor will prescribe sedative herbs or drugs to the patient. Sometimes psychotherapy helps to cope with the problem. At the local level, hands or feet are treated with special drying lotions or liquid talc.
Overweight. Obese people sweat more than normal weight people. A large body generates a lot of heat, and fat does not allow it to leave. Therefore, the only way for the body to cool itself is to start sweating. You can cope with the problem if you get rid of excess weight. While there is a struggle with kilograms, you need to take a shower more often. This must be done 2 times a day. You should also use antiperspirants. Traditional medicine methods can come to the rescue: a decoction of oak bark or alum.
Hormonal surges during menopause or adolescence. During hormonal changes that occur during puberty and during menopause, sweating always increases. The brain transmits the wrong signal about the ambient temperature, so the body, even during the heat, dilates blood vessels and tries to warm up. During menopause, you need to take medicines that can reduce its manifestations. Which drug to choose – the doctor should advise. With sweating in adolescence, it will not be possible to cope with any drugs. You just need to go through this stage, carefully observing the rules of personal hygiene.
Hyperfunction of the thyroid gland. If the thyroid gland produces an excessive amount of hormones, then doctors talk about a disease such as thyrotoxicosis. The main symptom of the disease is severe sweating, which haunts a person even in cool weather. In addition, the patient suffers from increased weakness, increased irritability, insomnia and other symptoms. To cope with the disease, you need to go to an appointment with an endocrinologist. The doctor will prescribe medications to the person that allow you to fight thyrotoxicosis.
Vegetosovascular dystonia. With this violation, the autonomic nervous system works with violations, which affects other internal organs: the digestive tract, respiratory organs. Also, failures occur in the processes of thermoregulation. To cope with the disease, you need to consult a neurologist. Useful fitness classes. It is important to exclude from the menu foods that contribute to increased sweating: spicy foods, drinks containing caffeine, spices, alcoholic drinks, honey.
Taking antibacterial drugs Antibiotic treatment leads to a change in the intestinal microflora, which causes increased sweating. To normalize the intestinal flora, you need to drink fermented milk drinks, take probiotics and prebiotics, as well as vitamins.
Pregnancy. Pregnancy is accompanied by hormonal changes, so women notice that they begin to sweat more. As a rule, hyperhidrosis worries in the first trimester of pregnancy, and in the second and third trimester it declines. Although sweating will still remain elevated, as the volume of circulating blood in the body increases. To cope with sweating during pregnancy, it is necessary to regularly perform hygiene procedures. You can also wipe heavily sweating places with a solution of vinegar and salt. Half a liter of boiled water will require a tablespoon of vinegar (acid concentration 9%) and the same amount of salt. The solution can be stored in the refrigerator.
Treatment for profuse sweating
When hyperhidrosis is an individual feature of the body, and not the result of a serious illness, it will not be difficult to cope with the problem.
Modern medicine offers people with excessive sweating such methods of influencing the body as:
Taking medications. Bellataminal, Bellaspon, Belloid, which contain belladonna alkaloids. They reduce the production of sweat by the sweat glands. Local therapy is reduced to the treatment of sweating places with Formagel or Formidron.
Use of antiperspirants: Odaban, which works up to 10 days, Maxim (one bottle is enough for a year), Dry Dry (one bottle is enough for 6 months).
Sedative herbal remedies: belladonna or valerian extracts, motherwort tincture. You can recommend yoga, meditation, hypnosis to patients.
Affirmations. This is a set of phrases that need to be spoken every day. They help calm the nervous system and make it easier to endure stress.
Physiotherapeutic treatment with the reception of coniferous-salt baths, iontophoresis. Electrosleep, electrophoresis with drugs has a good effect.
Laser treatment. Sweat glands, which are located in the armpits, are treated with a laser. They are destroyed, and the person stops sweating.
Botox injections, Dysport. The introduction of drugs blocks the nerve endings of the sweat glands, which helps to reduce sweating.
Laser treatment or Botox injections are resorted to in extreme cases, when other measures to combat hyperhidrosis are ineffective. It is important to take into account that they have serious contraindications and side effects. Sweating is a natural process that helps cleanse the body of harmful substances, so it is not recommended to prevent it. In the future, this can negatively affect human health.
Excessive sweating can be the result of many diseases. Therefore, it is necessary to treat the cause, not the effect. Sometimes, with sweating of the face, hands, neck, preganglionic sympathectomy is performed (resection of the sympathetic nerve trunk, its nodes or branches).
You can use sea baths or four-chamber baths. For various diseases, you need to contact the appropriate doctors, for example, a neurologist, psychiatrist, dermatologist.