Video
Dr Christian:
We’re getting a lot of questions on the Embarrassing Bodies site about excessive sweating—it seems a lot of you suffer from it, and you want to know what is it, what causes it, and what can you do about it? Well, excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, can be divided really into two different main causes. The first one is just caused by an overactivity of your nervous system and may well have been present from birth, or at least from puberty, when you start to sweat properly. And the second cause is usually due to other conditions, like high thyroid levels or diabetes. If you treat those conditions, usually the excessive sweating will settle down too.
A lot of you want to know, can anything be done about sweating on the palms, and also can you keep using the medications available? Well, the answer is absolutely, there are lots of things available over the counter, particularly strong antiperspirant deodorant often containing aluminium salts. These can be very effective, but you need to use them regularly—in other words, every day, and if necessary every night as well. And yes, you can keep using them for as long as you need to.
A question a lot of you are asking me is ‘how do you treat the flushing that goes with excessive sweating?’ Well, in this case, I would say if you are getting very red and flushed on your face, I would really advise you in the first instance to go and see a doctor to have it looked at, because facial flushing can be caused by all sorts of other conditions.
Many of you want to know if there are any more permanent solutions available for excessive sweating. Well, Botox is one option. It involves a lot of injections, so it can be quite painful, and it only lasts for around four, six or eight months, so you’d need to keep getting them repeated. But, six months of being sweat-free may be a great option for a lot of you. And really, as a very last resort, there is always the possibility of surgery to remove the sweat gland-containing tissue from under the arms, but this really is a very last resort. If you’re concerned about any of these things, go and have a chat with your GP to find out a bit more.
Doctor Responses: Excessive Sweating
Dr Christian answers your most frequently asked questions about excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) such as: What causes it? What can you do about sweating on the palms? Are there any permanent solutions?
With thanks to the Baker Street Medical Centre
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i am 13 years old and i sweat loads all over my body, an example is when i stand up after sitting down there is a massive sweat pool/line left on the chair, i also get massive sweat patches covering half of my t-shirt. However, my hands cause such a problem, sweat literally drips off my palms and i can't hold paper for more than 5 mins because the paper begins to disintergrate, i refuse to let anyone see or touch my hands and my pen always slides out of my hand, if i put my hand on a table for just a few seconds i leave a large pool of sweat on the table. My hands also always feel cold, at the best of times my hands are moist however for the large majority of the time they are dripping. Please let me know what over the counter things i can get to help, as it is a very embarresing and annoying issue for me :(
Hi im 15 and i suffer from really bad back sweat, my back will be covered in sweat on a 30 minute casual walk to school, and overall sweating. I am healthy weight and consider myself to be in good shape so i am confused to why i suffer from this condiiton, what would you recommend?
Dear Cristian I seam to get over Excessive sweating through my head i dont seem to sweat much on the rest of my body. but on my head it just poors out like a tap even when im not doing much. it drives me made as it can be very embarrassing even when i sit down or just go in shops please can you help me.
I really empathise with you. I too suffer from hyperhidrosis on my head - all over my scalp and forehead. People don't understand the embarrassment it causes and the amount of things you have to stop doing because they will make you sweat more. Have you tried Glycopyrronium bromide, a water like liquid that can be sprayed on the head and face. Unfortunately it has to be prescribed by a hospital consultant each time and general pharmacies can't supply it. Therefore it has to come from the hospital pharmacy and that causes so many complications because they won't do a repeat prescription. The whole thing was so very complication that I had to give it up. It slightly improved my symptoms but was not a great deal of help, although others have found it a godsend. After talking to the consultant about the problems with the Glycopyrronium bromide and the fact that it really wasn't making a lot of difference to me I was then offered Botox injections. I had about 30 injections into my scalp each time. The effects were supposed to last up to 9 months but I needed them every 4 months. They really helped, I still struggled a little but it gave me my life back - I felt normal at last. Unfortunately the NHS governing body made the decision that Botox was no longer going to be available (unless you pay for it - one NHS treatment uses £100 worth of Botox and then there will be the consultants fee on top of that and I am certain they won't charge the wholesale price they paid for the Botox - they will add a premium on top of it I imagine). I was distraught - I couldn't bear the thought of my hair being drenched in sweat when I do nothing more than walk downstairs and sit down. I have had people ask me if I'd just come out of the shower when all I'd done was walk from my office to the office three doors down - about 15 metres. I decided to appeal the decision so I could have more Botox as my consultant had told me that Botox was the last resort, nothing else would help. He was going to back me up in an appeal to the governing body and my MP was also going to help me to appeal it. However, it didn't come to that. When I went to see the consultant (on the day he told me he would back me up) he offered me something else to try in the meantime . He gave me some Pro-Banthine tablets, take three a day. They worked. They really work - I have divided the time of day into equal sections so I can take the tablets equally spaced out. The proof for me that they work is that I notice that I start to sweat heavily again (after being dry after the first tablet) when I check the time it is usually about an hour before my next tablet is due. Unfortunately in my case there was a massive side effect from these tablets... not everyone would react the same to the tablets though, every person reacts differently. My mouth became so dry I needed to carry a spray which contained synthetic mucus as my mouth was so dry I couldn't swallow and found it hard to talk. Even though this was really hard to cope with I was happy to go through it because the tablets have almost stopped the sweating. I can go out and have dry hair at last! I am very, very happy with the effects of this tablet and, happily, the dry mouth side effect is starting to ease up and I don't need the spray for my mouth anymore. I hope you found something useful in this...
i suffer from sweaty palms and underarms. My doctor hasnt offered me much help and i have had botox that didnt work. What other options do i have?
Underarm sweating can be stopped 100% by using 'Odaban' - get it from the pharmacy - they may have to order it (it is in their 'big book') Its brilliant, I've been using it for years. Use it for 3 days straight, and after that , just once a week - you wont believe it - you can even swim or play sport and you dont need to re-apply until your regular day, honest!! Make sure you follow instructions though. Wish I could find an answer for head and face sweating, I have a massive problem with this.
hi my man is a little over weight and has really bad sweats, he can walk to the end of the street and back and hes sweating all over and hes t-shirt is wet to the bone and its every day, plus he also get really bad aches in his arms at times please help emma
hi i'm 14 and at school, after a lesson i'm scared too stand up because theres always a bum shaped sweat mark on the plastic seat. i also have sweaty palms which means i'm also leaving sweaty hand prints everywhere please help :3
Im 19 and have really bad sweating on my upper mouth and chin and no where els sweats its really annoying and it happens everywhere o go, help?
Hey im female 28 years old. I was on the depro jag for over 6 years. i had my last jag june 2010 my periods returned May 2011. My period are not yet normal. Also at times it would be v painful turning sex. I also have pains in my hip. Myself & husbend have been trying to get pregnant for 4 months no joy. We starting using ovulation strips 7 days ago but i stopped yday because i starting spotting on sat which i dont know weather its a period or wat. My last period was 16th sept. HELP
Hi I am 49 and have always sweated quite a lot but generally when I exercise. However, just lately I seem to be sweating far more by doing very little and it seems only to be from my head. For example I would get ready in the morning wash and dry my hair but by the time I walk out of the door my hair looks like I have just stepped out of the shower and my face is covered in perspiration running down from my head. I have exhausted all possible causes with my GP and his only suggestion to possibly help was to take anti depression drugs or Botox which may not be an option as they would not inject my head to both options I answered no thank you. Is there anything of a natural nature which could possibly help or do I just live with it? I do not experience any flushing of any area when I sweat and have had many blood test and a 24 hour urine collection test to exhaust all avenues. All tests came up clear including one for Diabetis.
Have you been seen by a Consultant Dermatologist? You mention your GP trying to help but some things for this condition can only be prescribed by a consultant. If you haven't seen a dermatologist it might be worth asking your GP to refer you. I don't know of any natural 'cures' or things which would reduce the sweating but there are a lot of books available on natural, healing plants and how to use them - take a look on the biggest book-seller online and there is a huge choice. I do get a little relief from it by dabbing peppermint and tea-tree aromatherapy oils around my hairline and the main part of my head so that might be worth a try. I have posted a message in response to a post on 2nd November by Dennis and I have written about my experiences with different treatments and you might possibly find something useful in that.
Hi i am 20, i start to sweat even just sitting on the couch it so bad making me feel so bad, if i go to the shops i start sweating even if it freezing outside, so embarrassing :(. I have been to doctors and he said there nothing he can do. HELP
