Hyperhidrosis - excessive sweating

Our bodies produce sweat, not just in the summer but also in colder seasons, in order to stay cool or keep certain areas of the skin moist. This is an essential function. But if someone sweats so much that they find it necessary to change their clothes several times a day, or perhaps even develop an aversion to shaking hands, this is a condition known as hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating.

Physical and mental impact

According to the University Hospital Basel, around 1% of the population suffers from excessive sweating. Heavy perspiration is particularly irksome when it affects the hands, feet or armpits, with the latter in particular being very conspicuous to others. That is why excessive sweating can also affect your mental health. Feelings of shame, anxiety about meeting new people or reluctance to raise your arms are just some of the negative effects experienced by sufferers.

Treatment

There are several ways to treat excessive sweating.

• Aluminium chloride solutions:
  These solutions are available as an ointment. Applying them to the affected areas inhibits the activity of the sweat glands. This method is a very good option in cases of mild hyperhidrosis.
• Iontophoresis:
  This procedure involves submersing your hands or feet in water and passing a weak direct or pulsed current through them. Other regions, such as the armpits, can be treated using special electrodes.
• Botox:
  With this method, Botox is injected into the upper layers of the skin in order to block the production of sweat. In an ideal case the effect can last for up to six months.

Anyone suffering from mild hyperhidrosis can also try several weeks of treatment with sage in the form of a tea or tablets. Sage's antiperspirant properties have been known in the field of herbal medicine for a long time. Although the treatment methods listed above are quite varied, one thing they all have in common is that they need to be repeated after a certain amount of time.

If none of these conservative methods leads to an improvement, surgery may be of some use in certain parts of the body as a last resort. This involves severing some nerve endings, but there is a risk of leaving ugly scars, and it's possible that the effects of the treatment won't last. The operation should only be performed by surgeons who have extensive experience with the procedure.

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15.12.2021