Excessive Sweating in the Hands, Feet, Armpits: Hyperhidrosis

Excessive sweating is caused by a change in the sympathetic nervous system (part of the autonomous nervous system), which causes the body to produce more sweat that it needs to regulate body temperature.

The majority of individuals who suffer from this condition see their quality of life affected because the excessive sweating occurs regardless of climate or the individuals’ apparent emotional state.  This could cause a series of unpleasant consequences, like bad body odor, skin irritation, etc.

What is sweat?  What purpose does it serve?

Sweat is a glandular watery secretion, a concentration of water, salts, urea, and amino acids.  Sweat is produced throughout the skin, but where sweat glands are concentrated, in areas like the face, armpits, palms of the hands, and soles of the feet, etc., the sweat appears more abundantly and accumulates more.

Sweating has excretory functions, it is a blood filter, like urine, that removes waste impurities in the blood, like alcohol or tobacco components, which could give the sweat a smell.

But sweating also has regulatory functions for body temperature.  When the body generates a lot of heat, it sweats to refresh itself and to lower its temperature.  Sweating also has a protective function, which, along with the skin’s sebum, forms its pH lever (pH of 5.5 in normal skin), which prevents organisms from proliferating on the skin.

People sweat when:

• They do physical activity.
• They’re under stress or anxiety.
• In moments of excessive nervousness.
• Illnesses.
• Fearful situations.
• When they’re overweight.

Sweating is a normal and spontaneous bodily function.  However, when it is excessive, it could affect individuals.

What causes excessive sweating?

• Heredity: it is said that this is a hereditary disease because it appears in individuals with a family history of having at some time, suffered from this disease.
• Nervous system: it is believed to be caused by an over-stimulation of the sympathetic nervous system, parallel to the spinal column within the thorax, irregardless of air temperature.
• Emotional factor: along with excessive blushing, excessive sweating can be due to certain unconscious emotional factors.  Prolonged anxiety, for example, or very controlled nervousness, could cause excessive sweating, as well as a lack of security and self-esteem.

Symptoms of Hyperhidrosis

• Excessive sweating on the palms and soles of feet
• Armpit sweating
• Facial sweating associated with facial redness, which manifests as blushing in the face.
• In more accentuated and severe cases, this could create fungi, skin peeling, bad body odor, skin irritation, abnormal skin pigmentation.

There are two types of hyperhidrosis: primary and secondar

• Primary hyperhidrosis could begin at any moment in an individual’s life, and creates purely sweating, unlike the secondary.
• Secondary hyperhidrosis: could be due to thyroid or pituitary gland dysfunctions, infections, diabetes, tumors, menopause, or certain pharmaceuticals.

Treatments that are not convenient or recommendable:

Antiperspirants: a lot of people frequently use antiperspirants with a high concentration of aluminum chloride.  This could be effective to a certain extent, and is only applicable for armpit hyperhidrosis, or in cases of palm or foot hyperhidrosis.  However, using these antiperspirants could cause severe skin irritation and also runs the risk of suffering from cancer because the sweat glands are practically blocked.  

Operation: this is another option that consists of placing air in the lungs so that they become raised and release the T nerve ganglions that are responsible for excessive sweating in the face, hands, and/or armpits.  However, this operation could end up in posterior complications that could cause compensatory sweating on the back, stomach, or legs (behind the knees or between thighs).  Compensatory sweating could be very severe.

Medications: the truth is, medications of medical solutions generally focus of controlling the problme, not resolving it.  Over time, they generally have greater complications, like in the case of taking oral medications that in some ways, help fight the condition, but that on the other hand, only unbalance the body, causing sever contraindications like mouth and eye dryness, nausea, cardiac arrhythmia, and headaches.  The majority of medications do not cure, they just try to avoid symptoms and cause the body to become lazy with curing itself.  The immune system becomes weak because the medications do the work that it should be doing.  Over time, the body will need, and will ask for, more medicine, making is more dependent on them.

Operations, medications, and other related treatments also cause severe side effects that could even be fatal. Diluting the body only unbalances it, making the heart unbalanced and creating a series of irreversible disorders.

The best thing to do is to focus of curing the problem, on being patient and helping the body to recover its balance and harmony in the most natural way possible.

Natural treatments for excessive sweating

The body is designed to cure and repair itself on its own.  Diluting it, medicating and covering it up so it doesn’t “talk”, does not resolve anything.  It only aggravates the problem.  Doing so is only treating the body as if it were a sack of cells that have no intelligence or consciousness.

The best thing to do to solve this problem naturally, as mentioned above, is to have a lot of patience, love, and respect for the body.  All conditions can be cured if you give the body the necessary elements to recover balance and health.

Proper diet: an imbalance in the sweat glands must be treated through diet.  You should avoid all irritants and stimulants in the diet, like white sugar and all its derivatives, as well as coffee, alcohol, vinagers, mustards, chocolates, sodas, etc.

You must nourish the nervous system appropriately, which is why you must increase the amount of fresh vegetables you consume.  This could be in the form of juices or salads.  Drink at least one liter of vegetable juice a day or eat a good fresh salad.  Also, you should include spirulina seaweed, brewer’s yeast, vegetable oils, fish, seeds, and nuts.

An overweight individual with hyperhidrosis will undoubtedly have to subject themselves to a cleansing diet, eliminating dairy and its derivatives, pasta, refined flours, junk food, packaged foods, red and fried meats, from your diet for quite some time.

Emotional factor

Although people say that excessive sweating is not related to an individual’s emotional state (because a lot of times the individual looks rested and relaxed), an individual that suffers from excessive sweating could be under stress of anxiety, constant fear or anxiety.  A lot of times this isn’t evident, and even though the individual appears peaceful, there could be something inside them that not everyone sees.

Self-esteem and personal security should be addressed as well, which could be the emotional causes for this condition.  Not wanting people to notice this “defect”, or always wanting to please others, or wanting to be or seem perfect, could be a few of the deep roots that cause this problem.

Relaxation therapies are very effective at treating this condition, as well as practicing yoga, taichi, etc.  Professional hypnosis could help the patient find what causes their anguish or fear.

Readings that are focused on personal growth are also very effective.  The book “You can Heal Your Life”, by Louise L. Hay, is one of the basic readings for embarking on a true path of healing.

You must not lose sight of the fact that any condition is a moment in which the body invites you to better understand and to expand your consciousness.

A while you help the body self-heal, we will also give you a very effective remedy to help prevent bad body odor, and to naturally prevent excessive sweating.

Herbal treatment to help treat excessive sweating

Cooking the peel fights sweating in the hands and feet:

You will need:

• 4 peels from fresh oranges, and 3 lemon peels
• 1 liter of fresh water

Boil the diced peels for 10 minutes in 2 liters of water.  One the temperature has lowered to 45 degrees C, wash your hands and feet with this water before going to bed, or when you get up in the morning.

Aloe is also good for preventing skin irritation.  Apply aloe cream to the areas that are very moist.

References

1. Hay, L.L. 1984. You can heal your life. Paperback: 272 pages. Publisher: Hay House Inc.; 2 edition (January 1, 1984). Language: English. ISBN-10: 9780937611012. ISBN-13: 978-0937611012. ASIN: 0937611018

Revised by: Dra. Loredana Lunadei on 07/31/2021

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