Can Your Sweating Excessively Be Controlled? by Lynsey Carter

After a period of heavy physical activity, though for some it will be light physical activity, your body will probably be sweating excessively, and definitely heated up so there will be the need to remove all of that additional heat generated in this heavy or light activity. For a large number of people, this will be the case.

There will also be those of you who profusely sweat at night having sweating sleep even when you are not involved in any form of strenuous physical activity, yes, even that activity too! The bottom line is that all of the conditions that do result from a build up of heat in your body will trigger some form of sweating.

Fortunately for you, your body does have the most wonderful mechanism for removing all of this accumulated heat, and it is simply known simply as body sweating.

When your body does profusely sweat, it gives rise to a condition that doctors and physicians call 'hyperhidrosis'.

Hyperhidrosis can either be a general, or a local, condition that targets a specific part of your body. Your sweating hands, your sweating feet, your underarmpits, and your groin area will be among the most active regions of perspiration due to the relatively high concentration of sweat glands you have in these areas. However, any part of your body can still be affected.

Hyperhidrosis can also be accurately classified, normally by your G.P., to determine if it is either a congenital or an acquired feature. One such feature - Primary Hyperhidrosis - is normally found to begin during adolescence, sometimes even before, and it does seem to be inherited as an autosomal dominant genetic condition - that is to say it is passed on at the chromosome level of your development.

Primary Hyperhidrosis is distinguished from another stage - Secondary Hyperhidrosis - which can occur from any point in your life.

Secondary Hyperhidrosis can often develop due to certain physical conditions, with some of them being:

* a disorder of your thyroid or pituitary gland;

* diabetes mellitus ( a condition in which a per on has a high blood sugar - glucose - level, either their body doesn't produce enough insulin, or because their cells don't properly react to the insulin that is produced);

* tumor/s;

* gout (a medical condition that usually presents with recurrent attacks of acute inflammatory arthritis - red, tender, hot, swollen joint/s. It is caused by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. The uric acid crystallizes and deposits in joints, tendons, and surrounding tissues.)

* menopause;

* some particular drugs,

* and even some forms of poisoning.

The cause of primary hyperhidrosis is not yet known, although some surgeons and doctors believe that it is caused by some sympathetic over-activity. Nervousness or excitement can aggravate this situation in many sufferers. Other factors that could be causes of hyperhydrosis and may often play a key role in this are;

* certain foods and drinks - especially spicy ones;

* nicotine;

* caffeine;

* and even some smells could trigger a response.

What is great to know is that hyperhidrosis does not endanger your life and the probability of death resulting from this condition is quite minimal. Hyperhidrosis causes however, a certain amount of discomfort to individuals and quite often disrupts that person's daily routine.

So what can be a cause of hyperhidrosis?

As stated earlier, the exact causes of hyperhydrosis have not been established by scientists or medical researchers, and it is good to know that research into the condition is still progressing, but there is some thought that particular health conditions can make it affect some specific individuals, yet not others. These health conditions may also include but are not limited to:

* obesity or excessive weight;

* hyperthyroidism (the term for overactive tissue within the thyroid gland causing an overproduction of thyroid the hormones - thyroxine and/or triodothyronine - ).

* diabetes, etc.

People who do find themselves with a sweating weakness need to consider a few options to try to manage their situation. Some of these options can be as simple as:

* changing the type of clothes they wear, from heavy to light fitting;

* and taking showers more frequently during the day and night as possible.

It is important to understand that excessive sweating will in all likelyhood increase the probability that bacteria will assault you. To ensure the health risk is managed correctly, it is highly recommended that great personal hygiene maintenance be essential. Also, you need to ensure that your body hair is trimmed at all times, and this does refer to mainly your armpit hair or the hair growing on the chest area.

Other techniques to enable you to stop sweating profusely could include endoscopic sympathectomy (ETS).

ETS is a surgical procedure in which certain portions of the sympathetic nerve trunk are destroyed. ETS is used to treat:

* hyperhidrosis;

* facial blushing;

* Raynaud's disease (a vasospastic disorder causing discoloration of the fingers, toes, and sometimes, occasionally other areas. This condition can also cause your nails to become brittle with longitudinal ridges;

* and reflex sympathetic dystrophy (a chronic progressive disease characterized by severe pain, swelling and changes in the skin. There is no cure).

But by far the most common complaint treated with ETS is 'palmar hyperhidrosis', or "sweaty palms". In this disorder, the palms may constantly shed so much sweat that the affected person is unable to handle simple things like paper, to sign any documents, to keep their clothes dry, or to even shake hands. The result can often be a social phobia so severe that is becomes debilitating.

Sympathectomy is another treatment but it can physically destroy some tissue anywhere in either of the two sympathetic trunks - a paired bundle of nerve fibers that run from the base of the skull to the coccyx - which are long chains of nerve ganglia lying along either side of the spine.

Each nerve trunk is broadly separated into three regions:

* cervical (neck);

* thoracic (chest);

* and lumbar (lower back).

The most common region to be targeted in sympathectomy is the upper thoracic region, the part of the sympathetic chain lying between the your first and your fifth thoracic vertebrae.

As with the normal risks of surgery, such as bleeding and infection, sympathectomy has several specific risks, such as some adverse changes in how certain nerves function. Many of these nerves do provide relief from profuse sweating and it is now becoming more accepted by many medical professionals that natural alternatives can be the best expectation for that permanent solution.

These are more likely to have much less dramatic side effects and are not usually as expensive to implement, or as difficult to obtain. So until a cure to stop profuse sweating is discovered, it would seem that the more natural sweating remedies are still the best option.

Copyright (c) 2010 Lynsey Carter