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Dear Sun Doc
I am 23 years old. Ever since I can remember, after performing an activity of however little strain, I start sweating a lot. It gets worse with the degree of intensity in the activity to a point where I am drenched in sweat. What amount of sweating is considered normal, and if mine is abnormal, what can I do to get it under control?Boboski
Dear Boboski
Sweating is one of the ways the body regulates excessive body heat. When the sweating is too much, in excess of what is needed for temperature regulation, it is called hyperhidrosis.
Hyperhidrosis can affect the whole body or specific sites such as the face and head (craniofacial hyperhidrosis), the palms (palmar hyperhidrosis), the armpits (axillary hyperhidrosis) or the feet (plantar/ pedal hyperhidrosis). The excessive sweating is not considered dangerous. The constant wetness of the skin makes it easier to get other skin conditions like fungal infections, eczema and cracking.
The excessive sweating is usually due to overactive sweat glands because of miscommunication from the nerves. Most people have primary hyperhidrosis, which means that the sweating is not caused by any disease or infection.
It may be triggered by a part of the nervous system (neurological hyperhidrosis), by eating (gustatory hyperhidrosis) or have no obvious cause. In secondary hyperhidrosis, the sweating is due to another disease such as thyroid problem, diabetes, nervous system diseases or some medications. The child of a parent with hyperhidrosis has 25 per cent chance of suffering from the same. Hormonal changes and emotions can also trigger hyperhidrosis, for example, sweating when nervous.
The condition cannot be cured but it can be managed. You should take a lot of water and wear cotton clothing. You can also apply aluminium chloride/chlorhydrate solution to the most affected areas prescribed by the doctor or from a chemist. If the sweating continues to be excessive, you can be seen by a skin specialist, a dermatologist, for iontophoresis, which means that a mild electric current is passed to the most affected area through water. Some medications or injections may also be given by the dermatologist. In case another illness is suspected, the doctor will do the necessary checks to determine this.