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How Do I Know If I Sweat Too Much?

by | Dec 6, 2016

<img class="alignright size-medium wp-image-68208" src="https://www.hidrexusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/iontophoresismachine-200×300.jpg" alt="iontophoresis machine" srcset="https://www.hidrexusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/iontophoresismachine-200×300 generic singulair.jpg 200w, https://www.hidrexusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/iontophoresismachine.jpg 566w, https://www.hidrexusa.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/iontophoresismachine-200×300@2x.jpg 400w” sizes=”(max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px” />The average person has between two million and four million sweat glands working as the body’s coolant system to prevent it from overheating. It’s totally normal to sweat during an intense workout or on an unusually hot day, but if you find yourself drenched in sweat while you’re shopping or watching a movie, you may have a condition known as hyperhidrosis.

What is hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis causes one to perspire as much as five times more than the average person. The sweat glands are active even when the body doesn’t need to cool down. While researchers haven’t yet determined the cause of hyperhidrosis, many doctors believe that it occurs due to a miscommunication between the sweat glands and the brain. Hyperhidrosis is most likely genetic, as about 30% to 50% of those afflicted have another family member with the same condition.

What are the symptoms of hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis tends to present itself in five primary areas – the arm pits, the palms, the bottoms of the feet, the face, and the scalp. Sweating is usually symmetric as well, meaning that if one palm is excessively sweating, the other is, too.

How much sweat is too much?
“If you’re sweating constantly in the winter in Chicago, that’s probably excessive,” says Dr. Patricia Farris, a clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University.

Basically, if sweating disrupts your everyday life, it’s too much. Doctors say that when it comes to diagnosing the condition, it’s less about the amount of sweat and more about the emotional and psychological effects of the sweat.

“It’s very difficult to quantify, but most people really do understand when they are sweating too much,” Dr. Dee Anna Glaser, president of the International Hyperhidrosis Society, told WebMD. “If you think you are sweating more than everyone else, or more than you used to, there is probably an issue going on.”

If you change your behavior because you are concerned about the amount you’re perspiring, you’re sweating too much. For instance, some sufferers of hyperhidrosis wear only dark clothing or keep extra shirts at the office so they can change to hide their sweat. Others keep paper towels in their purse or pockets, to wipe their hands on throughout the day.

If this sounds like you, you may have an excessive sweating condition. Fortunately, hyperhidrosis treatments, like iontophoresis machines, do exist. Iontophoresis machines, or “no-sweat machines” shut down the sweat glands to effectively reduce perspiration.

For more information, talk to your dermatologist or leave a question or comment below.

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