Know More About Hyperhidrosis

I actually have hyperhidrosis and I know that we are all aware of its effects on our everyday living. Until now, I am still suffering from such disease and I really wanted to know how can it be cured so I have searched over the internet and founded these facts.

Hyperhidrosis is the condition characterized by abnormally increased perspiration, in excess of that required for regulation of body temperature. says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperhidrosis)

Hyperhidrosis is a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively and unpredictably. People with hyperhidrosis may sweat even when the temperature is cool or when they are at rest. (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007259.htm)

Hyperhidrosis, which is sweating in excess of that required for normal thermoregulation, is a condition that usually begins in either childhood or adolescence. Although any site on the body can be affected by hyperhidrosis, the sites most commonly affected are the palms, soles, and axillae. Hyperhidrosis may be idiopathic or secondary to other diseases, metabolic disorders, febrile illnesses, or medication use. (http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1073359-overview)

Causes and Treatment

The cause of primary hyperhidrosis is unknown, although some surgeons claim that it is caused by sympathetic overactivity. Nervousness or excitement can exacerbate the situation for many sufferers. Other factors can play a role; certain foods and drinks, nicotine, caffeine, and smells can trigger a response.
A common complaint of patients is that they get nervous because they sweat, then sweat more because they are nervous.

Hyperhidrosis of a relatively large area (>100 square cm or generalized)

• In people with a past history of spinal cord injuries
  • Autonomic dysreflexia
  • Orthostatic hypotension
  • Posttraumatic syringomyelia
• Associated with peripheral neuropathies
  • Familial dysautonomia (Riley-Day syndrome)
  • Congenital autonomic dysfunction with universal pain loss
  • Exposure to cold, notably associated with cold-induced sweating syndrome
• Associated with probable brain lesions
  • Episodic with hypothermia (Hines and Bannick syndrome)
  • Episodic without hypothermia
  • Olfactory
• Associated with intrathoracic neoplasms or lesions
  • Associated with systemic medical problems
  • Pheochromocytoma
  • Parkinson's disease
  • Thyrotoxicosis
  • Diabetes mellitus
  • Congestive heart failure
  • Anxiety
  • Menopausal state
  • Due to drugs or poisoning
  • Night sweats
  • Compensatory
• Associated with toxins
  • Infantile acrodynia induced by chronic low-dose mercury exposure, leading to elevated catecholamine accumulation and resulting in a clinical picture resembling pheochromocytoma.

Hyperhidrosis of relatively small area (<100 square cm)

• Idiopathic unilateral circumscribed hyperhydrosis
• Reported association with:
  • Blue rubber bleb nevus
  • Glomus tumor
  • POEMS syndrome
  • Burning feet syndrome (Goplan's)
  • Trench foot
  • Causalgia
  • Pachydermoperiostosis
  • Pretibial myxedema
• Gustatory sweating associated with:
  • Encephalitis
  • Syringomyelia
  • Diabetic neuropathies
  • Herpes zoster (shingles)
  • Parotitis
  • Parotid abscesses
  • Thoracic sympathectomy
  • Auriculotemporal or Frey's syndrome
• Miscellaneous
  • Lacrimal sweating (due to postganglionic sympathetic deficit, often seen in Raeder's syndrome)
  • Harlequin syndrome
  • Emotional hyperhydrosis

Hyperhidrosis can often be very effectively managed.

 

Medications

Aluminium chloride is used in regular antiperspirants, but preparations with higher concentrations of aluminium chloride may effectively treat hyperhidrosis, especially axillary hyperhidrosis. Effects may be observed within three to five days of first use. Irritation of the skin is a reported side effect. Plantar and palmar hyperhidrosis have also been treated with aluminium chloride antiperspirants.

 

Injections of botulinum toxin type A, under the brand names Botox or Dysport, are used to disable the sweat glands. The effects may persist from four to nine months depending on the site of injection. This procedure has been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat underarm sweating.

Iontophoresis process

Iontophoresis was originally described in the 1950s, and its exact mode of action remains elusive to date.The affected area is placed in a device that has two pails of water with a conductor in each one. The hand or foot acts like a conductor between the positively- and negatively-charged pails. As the low current passes through the area, the minerals in the water clog the sweat glands, limiting the amount of sweat released. Some people have seen great results while others see no effect. The device can be painful (pain is usually limited to small wounds and over time the body adjusts to the procedure) and the process is time-consuming. The device is usually used for the hands and feet, but there has been a device created for the axillae (armpit) area and for the stump region of amputees.

Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS). In severe cases, a minimally-invasive surgical procedure called sympathectomy may be recommended when other treatments fail. The procedure turns off the signal that tells the body to sweat excessively. It is usually done on patients whose palms sweat much more heavily than normal. It may also be used to treat extreme sweating of the face. ETS does not work as well for those with excessive armpit sweating.

Complications

Some of the causes of hyperhidrosis can be serious. Always consult a doctor if you have excessive sweating.

Calling your health care provider

Call your health care provider if you have:

• Prolonged, excessive, and unexplained sweating
• Sweating with or followed by chest pain or pressure
• Sweating with weight loss
• Sweating that most often occurs during sleep
• Sweating with fever, weight loss, chest pain, shortness of breath, or a rapid, pounding heartbeat - these symptoms may be a sign of an underlying disease, such as hyperthyroidism

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