Do you hesitate to shake someone's hand when you meet them because you have sweaty palms? Do you exclude yourself from participating in activities with your friends because you have excessive sweating in your underarms, feet, or even face? All this can be embarrassing and uncomfortable and disabling when you have profuse sweating. If i just described you, you are probably suffering from a clinical condition called Hyperhidrosis. Hyperhidrosis is where parts of the body are sweating beyond what the body needs. Excessive sweating can have a number of different causes. The more we learn about them then the better we can treat this problem. Discover the causes in this article.



The Sympathetic Nervous System: The medical profession does not know everything about how excessive sweating is caused but they do know that it has something to do with the "sympathetic nervous system". This part of the body is responsible for regulating and controlling all sorts of different things. So, when you sweat excessively, your body is overreacting to some kind of stimulus such as excitement or anxiety. This is also called the "fight or flight" response. *Genetics: Whether you get excessive sweating is also to some degree genetic. You can pass on your excessive sweating to your children but it does not mean that they are guaranteed to also suffer from it. *Obesity And Weight:Not everyone who is overweight will get excessive sweating but the more you weigh then the higher your body heat and metabolism are and the more your body need to sweat in order to cool it down. *Anxiety: This is a major cause of excessive sweating and can make a patient much worse than normal. If a person already is an excessive sweater, if they get anxious then they will sweat even more. Seeing the sweat increase in this way causes even more anxiety and the vicious circle repeats itself. For many people, controlling anxiety is the key to stopping their excessive sweating.

In the world only 1%-3% of people suffer from this condition. Thanks to science and technology there are more options available to you, but be careful each individual person is different and bound to have different results. Read on to learn how to stop sweating. *Antiperspirants: There are two types, Over-the-Counter and Prescription. Both work by plugging your sweat ducts. Over the counter antiperspirants include products like Maxim, Certain Dri, and 5Day. Prescription antiperspirants include products like Drysol. Most of these usually stop sweating and work very well. Antiperspirants are not normally recommended for the face as there is a higher possibility of skin irritation.

*Iontophoresis: Targeted for the palms and feet, this solution is for those who tried antiperspirants and find that they need to step it up. In iontophoresis, patients place their hands or feet in water for a short period of time (20 to 40 minutes) while a mild electrical current is sent through the water. No one knows entirely why it works but it is said that it thickens the skin therefore blocking the flow of sweat. This is done every other day for five to ten days or more depending on each individual. After wards one only needs to do maintenance once a week to once a month, again depending on the individual. This is not a permanent solution and must be repeated as soon as excess sweating begins.

*Oral Medications: Medications such as Anticholinergics, Beta Blockers, and Clonidine Hydrochloride are used because they prevent the stimulation of all sweat glands and therefore can limit overall sweating. These drugs include Propantheline, Glycopyrronium Bromide, Benztropine, Diazepam, Diltiazem, Indomethacin, Oxybutynin, and Glycopyrrolate/Robinul. Some of the side effects include dry mouth, blurred vision, impaired speech, taste, chewing, and swallowing, urinary retention, constipation, and heart palpitations. Although helpful, these medications are not a very popular choice because of the serious side effects.

*Botulinum Toxin (Botox) Injections: One of the most popular alternatives to antiperspirants, Botox is a purified protein that works by temporarily blocking the chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate the sweat glands. During the procedure you are given shots under the skin near your sweat glands in the areas where you sweat the most. Sometimes an excessive sweating gland can be missed and you will still experience excess sweating. If this occurs you simply go back and get that area injected. This method has been known to last for up to seven months! This is not a cure, follow up injections are necessary.

*Surgery: If you have tried all of the above surgery might be the next step for you.

Excision- Sweat glands are cut out.

Curettage- Sweat glands are scraped out.

Liposuction- Sweat glands are suctioned out.

Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS) - The only known permanent and currently non irreversible procedure is the least recommended. Part of the surgery includes temporarily collapsing a lung! The goal is to cut or destroy the nerve paths associated with the overactive sweat glands. This method is a catch 22, one of the major side effects is compensatory sweating. This occurs when other parts of the body start sweating, sometimes worse than the original case. More than 80% of patients who had (ETS) had this side effect.