Is too much perspiration a problem that’s been plaguing you for years? There are plenty of excessive sweating causes that might be triggering your problems.
For many people, sweating happens due to vigorous physical activities—that’s completely normal. In worst cases, this happens when you are in the middle of a stressful situation, like an important meeting, date, or party.
As a result, you can’t seem to soak in the moment as you’re bothered by all the sweat dripping from all over your body. The discomfort can disrupt your usual activities and pave the way for embarrassment, social withdrawal, and lack of self-confidence.
Still, some people sweat so easily even when they are inactive. If that sounds like you, here are some excessive sweating causes that you need to know.
Excessive Sweating Causes: Premenstrual Syndrome
The menstrual cycle can be extremely stressful for women. Before getting their period, some women experience sensitivity to warm temperatures, thus making them feel hot even in cold days.
Plus, sudden temperature changes normally happen to their body. This causes the body to release sweat to cope up with the increased temperature.
Ovulation can also trigger an increase in progesterone, one of the female hormones responsible for causing hot flashes. Because of this, many women go through the uncomfortable feeling of sweating too much right before their menses.
Menopause
During menopause, changing estrogen levels often bring about extreme sweating. Most menopausal women—and even those approaching menopause—find the need to change clothes many times within the day.
They also experience hot flashes and night sweats for about 1-5 minutes at a time, leaving their face and body drenched in sweat. These are the responses to sudden heat felt on the chest, neck, and head.
Excessive Sweating Causes: Stress
Stressful situations put you in an uncomfortable or tensed feeling. They can happen in your everyday life, such as when you hear terrible news or simply get stuck in traffic when you’re already running late.
Whenever you’re stressed, the cortisol stress hormones in your body are released into the bloodstream, leading to intensified heart rate and temperature. Your body needs to cope and cool down through sweating, leaving sweat marks on your clothes.
It can even lead to body odor once the sweat mingles with the bacteria on your skin surface.
Psychiatric Problems
More than the usual stress from daily life situations, anxiety increases your body temperature, making you sweat a lot. Plus, the extreme discomfort and embarrassment brought by too much sweat add more anxiety, leading to more intense sweating.
Also, withdrawal from any psychiatric drugs or illegal substances like cigarettes, alcohol, and opioids can trigger sweating.
Glucose Control Disorders
Some people with medical conditions like diabetes might experience a loss of nerve function that controls the sweat glands. As a result, you either suffer from excessive sweating or become unable to sweat at all.
On the other hand, low glucose levels can make you sweat a lot even on a cold day or during minimal activity.
Infections and Diseases
Night sweats often accompany some infections.
One example is endocarditis, which causes inflammation of the heart valves. Another example is osteomyelitis, which is the infection of the bone.
Tuberculosis is another condition commonly associated with night sweats. You might also experience extreme sweating when you have abscesses in different parts of your body.
Aside from infections, you may also experience generalized sweating all over your body due to various endocrine, neurologic, and systemic diseases.
Some examples include hyperthyroidism, gout, and the presence of a tumor.
Excessive Sweating Causes: Hyperhidrosis
Despite all these excessive sweating causes, there are still some people who don’t have any underlying medical condition that causes them to sweat. In such cases, the most plausible reason is hyperhidrosis.
Hyperhidrosis is a condition where you experience more severe sweating than normal. It usually affects the palms of your hands, soles of your feet, face, and underarms.
Hyperhidrosis is believed to be caused by overactive nerves that signal the sweat glands to produce more sweat. What causes these nerves to become overcharged is still not known.
TREATMENTS
If perspiration is caused by the underlying conditions stated above, you need to treat the medical condition first to solve your sweating woes.
But you can still do things to minimize sweating, such as practicing good hygiene, using over-the-counter and prescription-strength antiperspirants, and observing relaxation techniques like deep breathing exercises and meditation to calm your nerves.
But if your sweating is caused by hyperhidrosis, all these techniques might not make a huge difference. Instead, you need to look for remedies that block sweat production, like miraDry treatments.
miraDry® is an FDA-approved non-invasive laser treatment that destroys sweat glands using microwave energy. As a result, your perspiration is drastically minimized. It also produces long-lasting results because the destroyed sweat glands don’t grow back.
If you want to learn more about miraDry treatments, schedule a Free Consultation with our board-certified plastic surgeon here in Face+Body Cosmetic Surgery, and we’ll answer any concerns that you may have.
