How Do You Stop Sweating When You Have Hyperhidrosis? Some General Tips

How do you stop sweating when your body is predisposed to too much sweating? There is a medical condition called hyperhidrosis which causes your body to release excessive amounts of sweat at times. While sweating has no harmful physical effects which are more serious than acne (because sweat makes acne-causing bacteria multiply in the skin), too much of it can disrupt your social life. Sweating is the cause of body odor and getting caught with perspiration on your clothes will turn other people off from you, regardless of whether they know you have a medical condition or not.

There are two general types of hyperhidrosis. The first, primary focal hyperhidrosis, makes you sweat even if you don’t have any other medical condition that triggers it. This type of hyperhidrosis affects specific body areas. Also, the effects of this illness are symmetrical, meaning if a left body portion is sweating too much, then the corresponding right portion will also sweat too much. Common areas afflicted include the underarms, the hands, and the feet. At least once a week, you will experience sweaty episodes with some or all of these areas.

The second, secondary focal hyperhidrosis, is excessive sweating caused by some other medical condition or by the intake of certain medications. This type of sweating usually starts during adulthood. Unlike the primary variety, the secondary type of hyperhidrosis causes sweating on larger portions of the body. Fortunately, once you treat the underlying medical condition or you stop taking the medications causing excessive sweating, this type of hyperhidrosis will stop.

When you are suffering from hyperhidrosis, how do you stop sweating so much? Fortunately, there are many ways to carry that out. A noninvasive, over-the-counter method is using antiperspirants. These antiperspirants are applied to selected areas of the body. The sweat pores will be blocked, so sweat won’t come out of the body. Note that this does not treat hyperhidrosis but rather prevent its effects from manifesting. Most antiperspirants contain aluminum chloride; they are good for mild hyperhidrosis.

If the effects of antiperspirants seem to be not enough, then you should go to a doctor to ask for a medical remedy for your sweating. There are many drugs which can decrease perspiration by making your sweat glands less receptive to stimuli. Taking these drugs should only be considered after asking a doctor’s opinion and after using milder approaches didn’t help. Another form of therapy against hyperhidrosis is lontophoresis. In lontophoresis, the hands and feet are placed in water for 10 to 20 minutes while very mild electric current passes through. The electric current closes down the sweat glands on the hands and feet, at least for a while.

If all else above fails, then Botox is the solution. Botox is applied to affected portions of the body (notably the armpits) so that the nerves that activate the sweat glands will be shut down. That way, sweat glands (while still functional) are no longer triggered to release sweat. That is a permanent solution and should be considered only as a last resort approach.

Still, you may ask: how do you stop sweating by employing everyday measures? You can add to any of the solutions above. You can diminish your intake of caffeinated beverages so that your body’s metabolic rate doesn’t surge up and increase your body temperature. You can also stop smoking if you’re doing it. At some occasions, you can apply deodorant to your armpits so significant body odor will be masked. You can also wear loose-fitting clothes so that your body will be exposed to air which will make the sweat evaporate. Finally, you should drink lots of water so that the body’s fluids will be replaced and so your body won’t sense the need to trigger the sweat response often.