Palmar Hyperhidrosis

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people - so much that they hide their hands in their pockets or behind their backs and often become frustrated and withdrawn from people.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.

BONUS : Reduce sweating

We all sweat; it’s nature’s way of controlling body temperature and preventing overheating. It’s pretty embarrassing and makes you feel pretty anxious and uncomfortable. However there are some lifestyle changes you can make to reduce sweating. These include always wearing an antiperspirant deodorant, washing everyday and keeping good hygiene.

One of the best ways to reduce sweating is by using an antiperspirant deodorant throughout the day. Roll on deodorant is the best. Avoid perfume smelling aerosol sprays as they do nothing for you except make you smell nice - they do not help reduce sweat at all. There are a number of over the counter deodorants that you can purchase to reduce sweating from the chemist or the supermarket.

As well as using a deodorant during the day we recommend you use a product called ``Drisol`` at night to reduce excessive sweating. Drisol is an effective antiperspirant that blocks the sweat glands and you apply it at night and wash it off in the morning. Overtime you will notice that sweat will reduce or even stop during the day and you won’t have to apply Drisol every night, you will find that you only have to wear it occasionally. Only use Drisol on little areas of the body such as under arm, hands and feet because it’s important that other areas of the body can sweat a little (it’s a natural process). It can be bought off the shelf without a prescription from your local chemist.

Personal hygiene is really important when you wish to reduce sweating and because of this you need to make sure that you shower everyday (maybe even twice a day if it’s hot) because this will keep your body clean and reduce sweating in a big way. If you don’t shower everyday and you find that you sweat a lot it is your own fault because you know what you need to do and there’s nothing worse than hearing other people whisper about you because you are sweating and you smell funny.

To reduce sweating it is important that you don’t wear clothes for more than one day without washing them – I know it’s tempting to wear the same shirt you wore yesterday today but don’t. Also if you find that you do sweat a lot it is a good idea for you to take a change of clothes with you every day to change into so if you find that you are getting too sweaty you can change into some new clothes. Usually carrying an extra t-shirt will do because most people get really sweaty on the back and on the underarms.

The choice of clothing is important when you want to reduce sweating – whenever you can try and wear black as sweat and sweat stains are often less noticeable on black clothes. Wear clothes that are made of cotton instead of fabrics such as nylon and polyester because your skin has more airflow and can breathe easier with cotton. Also it is better if you avoid wearing clothes that fit close to your armpits – looser clothing is much better if you have a problem with sweat as it is harder for the sweat to adhere to your clothes.

If you follow the above reduce sweating tips and see no change then it is best for you to book an appointment with your doctor because you may suffer from excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis.