What is excessive sweating?
Normal sweating helps to keep the body temperature steady in hot weather, during a fever, or when exercising. Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) means that you sweat more than normal. Even when you are not hot, anxious, or exercising, you make a lot of extra sweat.
Primary (idiopathic) focal hyperhidrosis
This means that excessive sweating occurs in one or more of the following focal places: palms of the hands, soles of the feet, armpits (axillae) or face/scalp.
We sweat normally on the rest of the body. It tends to be symmetrical – that is, both palms, both feet, both armpits, are affected. The exact cause is not known and it is not associated with any other conditions. (The word idiopathic means of unknown cause.) It just seems that the sweat glands in these areas are overactive or more sensitive than normal. There may be some genetic factor involved as a cause. This condition usually first develops under the age of 25, but it can develop at any age. Men and women are equally affected. It is common and affects about 3 in 100 people.
The severity can vary from time to time. It may come and go and can be made worse by triggers such as anxiety, emotion, spicy foods, and heat. Anxiety about the sweating itself often makes it worse. However, this sweat should not be confused with body odour as it does not smell. For most of the time nothing obvious triggers the sweating; it tends to be a long-term condition although in some cases symptoms can improve over time.
The treatment of Excessive Sweating
A commonly affected area is the arm pits and this can be easily and effectively treated by the injection of the muscle relaxant BotoxTM. The palms of hands are more difficult and where appropriate the issues will be discussed during your consultation.
