What are the symptoms of hyperhidrosis?
The main symptom of hyperhidrosis is sweating. When you sweat, you may feel:
- Wetness on your skin.
- Damp clothing.
- Beads of fluid dripping from your cheeks or forehead.
Over time, hyperhidrosis can lead to the following symptoms:
- Itching and inflammation when sweat irritates your skin.
- Body odor, which occurs when bacteria on your skin mixes with sweat particles.
- Cracked or peeling skin on your feet.
Hyperhidrosis symptoms can range in severity. You may have minor symptoms that come and go or you may have constant symptoms that have an impact on your day-to-day activities.
Hyperhidrosis can also have an emotional impact on your life. Many people who have hyperhidrosis feel embarrassed when they sweat or they might avoid being around other people. If this condition affects your mental health, reach out to a healthcare provider to help you manage your symptoms and a mental health professional to help you manage how you feel about your body.
Where will I have symptoms of hyperhidrosis?
Sweat comes from eccrine glands, which exist in the skin throughout your body. You have the most eccrine glands in your:
- Armpits or underarms (axillary hyperhidrosis).
- Soles of your feet (plantar hyperhidrosis).
- Palms of your hands (palmar hyperhidrosis).
- Forehead and cheeks (craniofacial hyperhidrosis).
- Genitals.
- Lower back.
The most common location on your body to experience excessive sweating is the palms of your hands.
What causes hyperhidrosis?
Overactive sweat glands cause hyperhidrosis. Your eccrine glands (sweat glands) create sweat to cool down your body when you get hot. This process activates when you exercise or if you’re nervous. If you have hyperhidrosis, your eccrine glands activate and produce sweat more often than when your body is too hot. You may experience sweating at random times of the day when there isn’t something like an activity or emotion causing your glands to produce sweat. Research is ongoing to learn more about why your glands make too much sweat.
Triggers that cause sweating
Your body produces sweat to cool it down and prevent overheating. There may be certain triggers in your environment that can cause your sweat glands to produce more sweat including:
- Certain emotions like stress, anxiety, fear or nervousness.
- Warm temperatures or humidity.
- Exercise or physical activity.
- Certain foods and beverages, like spicy foods, fatty foods, sugary and salty foods, and foods with high levels of protein. Beverage examples include caffeinated beverages (coffee) and alcohol.
Medications that cause sweating
Certain medications can cause sweating as a side effect, including but not limited to:
If you take any of these medications and experience symptoms of hyperhidrosis, talk to your healthcare provider. Don’t stop taking a medication unless your provider tells you it’s safe to do so.
Medical conditions that cause sweating
Hyperhidrosis (generalized) could be a sign of an underlying medical condition including but not limited to:
Does hyperhidrosis run in families?
Yes, you may be more at risk of hyperhidrosis, specifically focal hyperhidrosis, if someone in your biological family has the condition. Research indicates that a hereditary genetic mutation or change to your DNA could cause hyperhidrosis.
What are the complications of hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis can cause complications that include:
- A skin infection.
- Skin changes, such as paleness, discoloration, cracks or wrinkles.
- Maceration, or unusually soft, moist skin.
Hyperhidrosis can also impact your mental health. You may find yourself changing your routine to hide your symptoms from others. Constant sweating may be so severe that you avoid common actions, such as lifting your arms or shaking hands. You may even give up activities you enjoy to avoid problems or embarrassment from excessive sweating. Contact a healthcare provider if hyperhidrosis affects your mental health and social well-being.
FAQs
Hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating. Known causes of heavy sweating include obesity, thyroid disease and diabetes.
Why do I sweat so much so easily? ›
It's possible that the nerves that usually make you sweat may become overactive and trigger the sweat glands even without heat or physical activity. This type of hyperhidrosis often runs in families. It can be worse if you are nervous or stressed.
What is your body telling you when you sweat a lot? ›
Your body produces sweat to cool it down and prevent overheating. There may be certain triggers in your environment that can cause your sweat glands to produce more sweat including: Certain emotions like stress, anxiety, fear or nervousness. Warm temperatures or humidity.
Are you unhealthy if you sweat a lot? ›
Overview. Working up a sweat on hot, muggy days or while exercising is only natural and, in fact, healthy. Sweating is the body's way of cooling down. But sometimes, the body sweats too much, which is the case for people who have a medical condition called hyperhidrosis.
Does sweating alot mean you're in good shape? ›
Fitness level: People who are very fit sweat more than their less-fit counterparts. But if fit people and less-fit people are performing the same task, the less-fit person will sweat more because they have to expend more energy to perform the same task.
Does sweating burn fat? ›
Sweating itself does not burn fat. Fat loss occurs when the body burns stored fat for energy, which happens through a calorie deficit created by consuming fewer calories than the body requires. Sweat is simply a byproduct of the body's thermoregulation process and does not have any direct effect on fat loss.
Is sweating good for you to lose weight? ›
Sweating doesn't burn a measurable amount of calories. However, sweating out enough liquid may help you temporarily lose water weight. Sweating is the body's natural way of regulating body temperature. It does this by releasing water and salt, which evaporates to help cool you.
What organ regulates sweating? ›
As soon as your body's internal temperature starts rising, your hypothalamus (a small region in your brain) tells eccrine sweat glands distributed all over your body that it's time to start cooling you down by producing sweat.
What illnesses make you sweat? ›
Health conditions that might cause excessive sweating include:
- Acromegaly.
- Diabetic hypoglycemia.
- Fever of undetermined cause.
- Hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid)
- Infection.
- Leukemia.
- Lymphoma.
- Malaria.
Sometimes excessive sweating is a sign of a serious condition. Seek immediate medical attention if you have heavy sweating with dizziness, pain in the chest, throat, jaw, arms, shoulders or throat, or cold skin and a rapid pulse. See your health care provider if: Sweating disrupts your daily routine.
Things you can do to help with excessive sweating
- wear loose-fitting clothes to minimise signs of sweating.
- wear socks that absorb moisture and change your socks at least twice a day if possible.
- wear leather shoes and try to wear different shoes day to day.
Fact: Sweating (at least once) daily is healthy for you. And, it doesn't just have to be from an intense workout. In fact, there are science-backed reasons why sweating is beneficial to your health; everything from boosting your mood, enhancing your skin, shedding toxins from your body and more.
Does sweating a lot mean heart problems? ›
Sweating day and night
Night sweats are also a common symptom for women experiencing heart trouble. Women may mistake this symptom for an effect of menopause. However, if you wake up and your sheets are soaked or you cannot sleep due to your sweating, this could be a sign of a heart attack, especially in women.
Does sweating a lot mean high metabolism? ›
Signs of a fast metabolism include increased calorie burning, difficulty gaining weight, increased breathing, insomnia and frequent sweating. The term fast or slow metabolism is often used depending on the speed of a person's basal metabolic rate (BMR).
Do you sweat more if you drink more water? ›
Drinking fluids and sweating
In fact, it is excessive water which can cause problems with metabolites in the blood leading to lack of concentration and irritability as well as excessive sweating.
Why do I sweat so much more than everyone else? ›
Genetics. Some people are simply born to sweat more than average. Those with hyperhidrosis perspire approximately four times more than normal, while people born with hypohidrosis sweat much less.
Why do I sweat profusely with little exertion? ›
If excessive sweating has no underlying medical cause, it's called primary hyperhidrosis. It happens when excess sweating is not triggered by a rise in temperature or physical activity. Primary hyperhidrosis may be at least partly hereditary.
How do I stop sweating in my private area? ›
Things to try at home for reducing sweat in the groin area include:
- Avoid tight-fitting synthetic underwear, pantyhose, tights, and yoga pants.
- Wear underwear made from materials that breathe, like cotton or moisture-wicking fabrics.
- Use cornstarch to help control moisture and odor.
- Bathe twice daily.
