Excessive sweating can be quite a problem at times, but there are some effective ways to treat this condition. The following article provides information about some of these treatment measures.
There is nothing abnormal about sweating, it is a normal biological phenomenon. However, excessive sweating is not only uncomfortable and embarrassing, but it can also lead to certain health issues down the line. So what causes those extra-sweaty palms and feet? How does it affect one’s health? Does there exist any sort of treatment for the same? Let us take a look at the answers to these questions.
Reasons
Excessive sweating also known as hyperhidrosis, is not limited by the geographical location, lifestyle, or nature of work of a person. Both, a person sitting in an air-conditioned room in London, as well as a taxi driver in the sweltering summer heat of Mumbai are equally prone to hyperhidrosis. The following are the common causes of excessive sweating:
- intense physical activity
- prolonged and direct exposure to bright sunlight
- genetic or hereditary reasons
- obesity
- improper or unhealthy diet
- chain smoking
- heavy, regular intake of alcohol
- diabetes, thyroid problems, and certain other medical issues
- high intake of caffeine
- consumption of piping hot drinks
- anxiety or extreme nervousness
Effects
Excessive underarm sweating is a condition that is experienced by many people. It can be quite disturbing as it leads to formation of sweat stains on clothes as well as body odor. If kept unchecked, this can lead to social embarrassment, which may severely dent one’s self-confidence. Excessive facial and head sweating may be extremely problematic for actors, models, television anchors and presenters, reporters, stage performers, etc.
It ruins the makeup, and in addition to social, cosmetic, and appearance-related reasons, excessive sweating is also bad for your body and your long-term health. This is because those who experience heavy perspiration lose a lot of water and salts in the form of sweat. In order to compensate for this, it is necessary to drink plenty of water and liquids. Failure to do so may lead to dehydration, weakness, headache, and other health-related issues.
How to Prevent
Here are some different ways and methods to control and reduce excessive sweating and perspiration:
- Natural Remedies: Cut down on caffeine and spicy and processed food to reduce excessive sweating. Also keep your body well hydrated by drinking lots of water. Make sure your diet is balanced with good amount of proteins, vitamins, minerals, and fiber. Additionally, some people believe that applying a patch of baking soda and cornstarch on your underarms may help reduce sweating. Although there is no conclusive evidence to support this, you may try it out as a home remedy.
- Antiperspirants: Using aluminum chloride-based antiperspirants may help in combating excessive sweating. These are commonly available in all cosmetic stores, shopping malls, or departmental stores. They are available in many brands and variants, therefore choosing the right one which suits your needs may require a little bit of trial and error.
- Iontophoresis: This process involves subjecting the concerned patch of skin to mild electrical pulses through water. This makes the sweat-producing glands to produce less amount of sweat at the skin surface. The effectiveness of this method varies from person to person and from body part to body part.
- Botox Treatment: In this case, the affected skin area is subjected to a number of Botox injections. The purpose of this treatment is to close the underlying sweat pores, and thereby prevent sweating in that particular area. However, these injections can be quite painful. Apart from this, it is an expensive treatment. A major drawback of this treatment is that, the effects are rarely permanent and one has to repeat the procedure anywhere between 2-3 times a year.
A combination of the aforementioned treatment methods may help in lessening, if not eliminating, the torment that excessive sweating causes. To conclude, one can safely say that although there can be no cure for sweating, the future could well see a possible cure for excessive sweating.
