Overactive Sweat Glands

Overactive sweat glands

We all get sweaty palms, underarms, or face every now and again. This is usually because it is a hot day or because we are extremely nervous, however for some people this is actually something they have to deal with every second of their life. This condition is overactive sweat glands and clinicians refer to it as hyperhidrosis. This article discusses particular treatment options for overactive sweat glands so you can prevent sweating and start living a normal life without the constant fear of sweating profusely.

There are a number of factors that determine why you have overactive sweat glands (excessive sweat) this includes heredity, your current diet, medications you are taking, menopause and a condition known as hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid). I will discuss each of these below briefly.

1. Heredity – overactive sweat glands is believed to be an inherited condition where the chances of developing overactive sweat glands are much higher when other members of your family have such the condition.
2. Diet- look at the types of foods and beverages that you are consuming because certain foods such as complex carbohydrates and caffeine-rich foods often make you sweat even more and this is even more important when you have overactive sweat glands.
3. Medications-the side effects from certain medications are sometimes responsible for your excessive sweating. Speak to your doctor about these side effects with your medications and you may be able to change medications.
4. Menopause- you may have heard women in the later life say that they experience ``hot flashes’’. If you suffer from such a condition and sweat a lot, you will find that you need to see a doctor.
5. Hyperthyroidism- you may find that you have overactive sweat glands and suffer from this condition because of a problem with your thyroid.

If having overactive sweat glands causes you to sweat excessively you have a number of treatment options and you must discuss this with your doctor to see which one is best for you. These include medications (these include crèmes, antiperspirants and drugs), as well as treatments such as Botox and surgery.

You should first try to see if medications work for you. Anticholinergics drugs help most people reduce their sweating produced by overactive sweat glands and hopefully they work for you too. Beta-blockers and anti-anxiety medication (benzodiazepines) have also been proven to be effective if your overactive sweat glands are caused by anxiety or stress.

Another option you can consider before getting Botox and surgery is a procedure that is called Iontophoresis. This is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and uses an electrical current to temporarily turn off the sweat gland. For the first few weeks you need to have this procedure done daily and then after that you should have Iontophoresis every month in order to control your sweating problem. However, the down side to this procedure is the ongoing costs you will have to pay and there is no guarantee that the procedure will work to remove your overactive sweat glands.

Botox is another option you could take if you are sick and tired of your overactive sweat glands and want to stop sweating. The basic procedure is a series of injections are applied to the area where you have excessive sweating and is popular with a number of people because of its effectiveness. The treatment lasts 6 months so you will need further injections if you want to control your problem.

Before having surgery to remove your overactive sweat glands, speak to your doctor because surgery needs to be your last option once you have exhausted all others. This is due to the cost, danger, permanence and side effects from such a treatment.

BONUS : Palmar hyperhidrosis

Palmar hyperhidrosis is what it sounds like - sweating of the hands. However you may also sweat in other areas of the body such as on the face, legs and underarm. Palmar hyperhidrosis is a physical condition that is caused by overactive sweat glands. People that suffer from excessive sweating find it a very embarrassing and anxiety-ridden condition.

Imagine everytime you go to shake someone’s hand you are petrified that your hand is all sweaty. Many people that suffer from this condition go to great lengths to avoid contact with other people - so much that they hide their hands in their pockets or behind their backs and often become frustrated and withdrawn from people. This type of hyperhidrosis can be due to nerves or heat but this is not always the case. The good news is that you don’t have to live in fear for the rest of your life, there are treatments that you can have that cure palmar hyperhidrosis.

Drysol is an antiperspirant that contains the active ingredient aluminum chloride hexahydrate and it is sometimes effective in treating palmar hyperhidrosis at mild levels. To treat the sweaty palms, apply Drysol to sweaty areas at night and wash off in the morning. It is important to treat the condition with a mild treatment such as Drysol and if the condition doesn’t improve try other more severe methods.

Tapwater Iontophoresis is another method that you could use to treat palmar hyperhidrosis if it is mild or at its early stages. You put your hands in an electrolyte solution where a very mild electrical current passes; this treatment has been effective for people who suffer from mild palmar hyperhidrosis and it is probably worth your while to try it out and see if it makes any difference to your excessive sweating problem.

There are a number of oral medications that have proved to be effective in treating palmar hyperhidrosis, probably the most effective are anticlorinergic drugs such as Ribinol because they help reduce how much you sweat. Many people sweat because they are nervous or anxious, and because of this certain anti-anxiety medication has proved effective when treating some one with sweaty palms. These medications include Zoloft and Prozac.

There are also surgery options for when you wish to find a cure for severe palmar hyperhidrosis. A surgical procedure called a Thoracoscopic Sympathectomy or an Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS) is performed in order to remove the T2 ganglion in order to stop the sweating. Two incisions are made below the armpit while under anesthetic in order to find the nerves and thus destroy them. The lung is collapsed during the procedure in order for the surgeon to have enough room to perform the operation and then the lung is re-expanded and cuts where the incisions are made are closed up as well.

There are a number of risks involved with having surgery if you suffer from palmar hyperhidrosis. These include such conditions as compensatory sweating. That is after the surgery has been a success, you begin to sweat in other places such as armpits, back, inner thighs, face and head. Often this sweating is actually worse than the sweating problem you had in the beginning and you really need to consider this before you opt for surgery.