Excessive Armpit Sweating

All that you wanted to know about excessive armpit sweating

Sweating is a natural process that takes place in human bodies and is also very essential for our body, as it regulates the temperature of the body to maintainable levels. Also sweating will aid in the excretion of certain waste products of our body. Normal sweating is a common feature that is seen in all humans in body areas like face, groin areas, armpits, torso etc. It is also natural for a person to sweat when he does some strenuous exercises in the gym or is tense during a presentation at the office or is jogging in the park. But, we find some people sweating very profusely all the time or when they carry out some tedious jobs. This is known as excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis.

The excessive sweating in people is seen in body areas such as palms, face, armpits, torso, soles of the feet etc. The presence of sweat in the armpits or the axillary area is normal in all people who have attained puberty. It is also natural and normal for people to have sweat and odour in the axillary area. But a variant to this normal armpit sweating is the excessive armpit sweating also known as axillary hyperhidrosis, a medical term that is used for excessive sweating in the armpit of a person. It is found out that about 1% of the population of the world is suffering from the symptoms of ancillary hyperhidrosis which involves extreme, dripping sweating in the armpit area.

A good body deodorant spray is enough to eliminate the normal body odour in the armpits of a person, but excessive armpit sweating is resistant to all types of deodorants and odor controlling medications. In some cases, we see the axillary hyperhidrosis to be accompanied with another known excessive sweating area, the hand and are referred to as palmar hyperhidrosis, in medical terms. Regardless of where the sweat occurs, excessive sweating presents an undesirable and incredible condition to those living with it. Sweat also prevents people for being as social as they like and are forced to hide in the shadow of hyperhidrosis.

 An armpit excessive sweating coupled with body odour is very embarrassing and many people feel to be indoors due to these symptoms as they cannot move freely with other people. Also the salt deposit that is found in the armpits due to excessive sweat gets attached to the shirts that people wear and will create a very awkward look. While there are no solid evidence to prove that excessive sweating in the armpits is caused due to a certain factor, doctors believe that the most likely cause of axillary hyperhidrosis is a genetic one. Doctors have also found out that the symptoms of excessive armpit sweating is due to the over activity of the sympathetic nervous system.

The armpit excessive sweating is not as commonly seen as the palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis. The Thoracic Sympathetic Ganglion Chain, which runs along the vertebra of the spine inside the chest cavity, controls the apocrine and eccrine glands that are responsible for perspiration throughout the entire body. Another thought or study for the symptoms of excessive armpit sweating was common among people with anxiety problems, but later even this study was proved wrong. Excessive armpit sweating is not a temporary condition and is found to start in the early childhood, expand during the puberty age and even worsens during adulthood. No matter if the climate is hot or cold, whether a person is exercising or relaxing, people who experience excessive armpit sweating will always experience excessive sweating.

Some of the remedies that you can follow to reduce the effect or excessive armpit sweating is to avoid pungent foods like onions, garlic, fish and spicy meals. All these foods can be smelt in sweat and makes it even more noticeable. Malt vinegar is an old fashioned remedy that is been practiced for many years and it is also worth giving it a try. Apply some to your armpits in the night, wash it off in the morning while bathing and then apply a good perfumed deodorant or antiperspirant. Also check out for deodorants and anti perpspirants that have different ingredients than those that are available in your normal deodorants and this also can make a difference to the excessive sweating and the body odour that comes due to it. Another remedy to reduce excessive armpit sweating is to shave off the hair that grows in the armpit area, as hair holds sweat and gives the bacteria more to work on.

Sometimes people sweat very heavily because of other illness such as hyperthyroidism, psychiatric disorders, menopause, and obesity and these are known as secondary hyperhidrosis, which needs medical attention. For decades, attempts have been made to counteract the excessive armpit sweating problems. Conservative solutions like oral medications, acupuncture, electronic devices, herbal medicines have all been tried, but have found to have little effect or no effect on the excessive armpit sweating.