A basic guide on Hyperhidrosis, causes, symptoms, and treatment
Table of Contents
What do you mean by the term hyperhidrosis?
The term “hyperhidrosis” typically means excessive sweating. Everyone sweats when they are exercising or feeling stressed. But people who have been suffering from hyperhidrosis usually sweat most of the time heavily without the usual triggers.
What are the main signs and symptoms of hyperhidrosis?
If you have hyperhidrosis, you may find sweat all over your body. You will see sweat mainly on your feet, hands, face, armpits, and genital area. Your attire may get easily soaked with sweat. Your skin may become white, wrinkled, or red from the moisture. Moreover, dampness caused by sweat is accompanied by odor. Sweat by itself does not usually have an odor. But once hyperhidrosis penetrates your skin, germs, and bacteria start to break it down. This causes it to smell.
Hyperhidrosis can bring forth an unpleasant impact on your life. You may feel uncomfortable and awkward in social situations. You may feel in a state of apprehension because of the odor and dampness. You may also feel afraid to shake hands with people. You may sometimes feel embarrassed when you are spending time with your friends or going to work or school. These are the normal signs and symptoms you can find of hyperhidrosis.
What are the underlying causes of hyperhidrosis?
There are basically two kinds of hyperhidrosis.
Primary hyperhidrosis:- This is also referred to as focal hyperhidrosis. It has mainly affected both sides of the body. It occurs on the hands, feet, underarms, face, and head. Sometimes, it adversely affects larger areas of the body. This kind of symptom often seems to run in families, often starts in childhood, and generally takes place during waking hours. So, therefore it becomes hard to ascertain the cause of primary hyperhidrosis.
Secondary hyperhidrosis:- More often, hyperhidrosis is also caused by something else and that is commonly referred to as secondary hyperhidrosis or generalized hyperhidrosis. Secondary hyperhidrosis is mainly caused by:-
- Hormonal changes ( such as menopause)
- An overactive thyroid
- Problems associated with blood sugar control
- Cancer
- Heart disease
- Caffeine
- Certain infections or other conditions
- Glucose control disorders
- Lung disease
- Parkinson disease
- Spinal cord injury
- Stroke
- Adrenal gland tumor
- Tuberculosis or other infections
- Stroke
Can hyperhidrosis be easily avoided or prevented?
You cannot avoid primary hyperhidrosis. Even you can’t avoid secondary hyperhidrosis also. The main significant factor which elicits your kind attention is what causes hyperhidrosis? And will it be easily treated or not? In case, if your symptoms are caused by blood pressure medicine, it is required to change medicines. If your symptoms are caused by caffeine, you are required to avoid drinking caffeinated drinks. But if your symptoms are caused by cancer or heart disease, it becomes impossible to avoid hyperhidrosis.
What does your doctor recommend about hyperhidrosis treatment?
A doctor may refer the patient to a dermatologist or a skin specialist. He will discuss with you all potential therapies and thereby recognize the most effective care plans. They may easily recommend:-
- Botulinum toxin (Botox injections):- Botox injections blocked the nerves and thereby function well to trigger the sweat glands. Patients who suffer from hyperhidrosis may require several injections for effective results.
- Anticholinergic drugs:- These medications just inhibit the transmission of parasympathetic nerve impulses. Patients generally notice a quick improvement within two weeks.
- Iontophoresis:- The patient’s hand and feet get submerged in a bowl of water. A painless electric current gets passed through the water. The treatment hardly takes about 20-30 treatments.
- ETS (Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy):- This kind of surgical intervention is highly recommended in complicated cases where the dermatologist doctor has not responded to opt for other treatments. ETS has been typically used to treat hyperhidrosis of the hands, face, or armpits. One main significant fact you need to keep in your mind is that ETS is not recommended for curing hyperhidrosis of the feet on account of the risk of permanent sexual dysfunction.
Key points to be taken away:-
We have offered you a basic guide on painless treatment that effectively manipulates the chances of excessive sweating. With a newer treatment option, you can easily treat hyperhidrosis problems. Still, if you want to acquire more information about hyperhidrosis feel free to ask us
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