Chadrack
Have you been struggling with the question, “How can I stop sweating so much?” Then read this article for your answer!
Sweating is a natural action of the body. It’s usually results when it gets hot or when you do strenuous exercise. However, there are some people that suffer from excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis. This is where you sweat a lot and often in very inopportune times.
Sweating too much is not only embarrassing (it stains clothes, ruins romance, and complicates business and social interactions) but could also limit and stop you from doing things that you enjoy doing. This is why people who suffer from excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis often become hyper vigilant about it and use all of their energy trying to rationalize and stop it.
In the United States alone it is estimated that over 3% of the population suffers from excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis. If you are one of these number then you’re in luck because in this article you’ll discover how you can stop excessive sweating s you can begin to live a normal life where you can do all the activities you have always wanted and have the relationships you’ve always wanted.
What are the Causes of Excessive Sweating?
It’s really difficult to pin-point the exact causes of excessive sweating. However, the following are possible causes:
- Family history
Most people who suffer from this health challenge have a family history of excessive sweating. Many times when family members suffer from this condition they find that they have sweating in the same area such as facial hyperhidrosis or palmar hyperhidrosis.
- Medical conditions
There are a number of medical conditions that can be classed as possible causes of excessive sweating. These include a condition known as hyperthyroidism (an overactive thyroid gland). Excessive sweating by hyperthyroidism results from your body working faster than normal. Of the many causes of an overactive thyroid gland – Graves’ disease makes the top of the list. Another is an overactive pituitary gland and thyroid gland tissue growth.
If you believe you have a possible thyroid condition consult your doctor so he/she can advise you on a cure.
- Anxiety
Another possible cause of excessive sweating is anxiety. People that sweat when they are nervous or in front of others suffer from what is known as “nervous sweating”. However, the problem is not only the fact that people sweat heavily when around others or in anticipation around others but many people begin to suffer from social anxiety and fear social situations because they know they are going to sweat heavily when around others.
- Spicy foods
Eating spicy foods is one of the surefire causes of excessive sweating. Have you ever eaten a hot curry at your local Indian restaurant and regretted it later? Not only because it was way too spicy but also eating it made you feel physically ill and you sweated profusely.
Many people complain that certain foods react badly with them and cause them to sweat heavily, so if you find this happening to you it is a good idea that you cut out those foods from your diet now because you may be predisposed to sweating heavily when you eat such foods.
- Obesity
Obesity is also one of the main causes of excessive sweating. If you are overweight and sweat excessively it is a good idea for you to begin a weight loss program. You will find that after you start losing weight you may stop sweating so much, however if this does not happen you might suffer from hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating).
- Menopause
Menopause is another one of the causes of excessive sweating. Many women between the ages of 55 and 65 suffer from what are termed “hot flashes’’ – these are periods when a woman sweats excessively for no reason. To treat these excessive sweating periods women should follow a healthy diet and exercise and may need hormone therapy.
- Medication (Secondary Hyperhidrosis)
The causes of excessive sweating due to medication, or secondary hyperhidrosis, is just that – a reaction to certain medications. We all know that many medications have side effects, a lot of the time a side effect is excessive sweating.
There are a number of oral medications that cause excess sweating and these include anti-anxiety medications, morphine and the thyroid hormone thyroxine.
Tips on How to Stop Sweating Too Much
There are a number of ways you can stop sweating. Once you have identified the type and cause of the excessive sweating you just need to find the treatment that works best for you. To begin with it is best to start with the less invasive methods to cure your sweating problem.
Here are some of the options for stopping excessive sweating:
- Antiperspirants
Antiperspirants are the first place you should look if you wish to stop sweating so much. There are a number of antiperspirants available but many of the supermarket brands do not work. Instead you should be looking for a prescription strength antiperspirant that contains the active ingredient aluminum chloride as these antiperspirants have really helped people that suffer from excessive sweating.
- Good Hygiene
Hygiene is really important when you want to stop sweating. Make sure that you shower every day and if your sweating is really bad you may want to shower/bathe twice a day. An excess bacterium in the skin causes sweating and that is why it is really important that you use an antibacterial soap at all times, especially in the areas where you sweat.
It is also really important that you wear clean clothes every day, don’t be tempted to wear the clothes you wore the day before, as they will be filled with bacteria. Make sure that you soak your sweaty clothes in a bucket before washing them in the machine as this will mean that your clothes will be completely clean and bacteria free.
- Drysol Antiperspirant
If you have been searching online on how to stop excessive sweating you must have seen a lot of advice on a product called “Drysol”. This product contains the active ingredient and is great at helping you reduce how much you sweat.
This is not an antiperspirant deodorant you spray on, rather you apply it to your skin in the area where you sweat a lot (hands, feet, underarm, back, face) and wash it off in the morning. It is effective in stopping you sweat after using it for as little as a week.
- Botox and Surgery
If you have applied the solutions above and you have not stopped sweating then you probably must be suffering from what is called severe hyperhidrosis. In such a situation there is the need for you to look into more extreme treatments such as Botox and surgery.
Before you consider Botox and surgery as a remedy for your sweating problem it’s important that you discuss with your doctor/dermatologist. These people are in a better position to give you the best advice on what treatment will help with the particular area that you sweat in.
Botox is good for treating sweating in the underarm region, and surgery is best for sweaty hands. Consider this however, that medical advances are being developed everyday so there is most definitely an answer and a cure for your sweating problem.
Conclusion
If you have been struggling with the question, “How can I stop sweating so much?” you should understand by now that there are many different routes that you can take. Start slowly with antiperspirants and build up to medical treatments and surgery if you can’t fix your problem with other less dangerous and expensive treatments.
