Excessive Underarm Sweating

Sweating is the body’s way of cooling you down and maintaining a normal temperature. Think of it like this, every day you have to eat, and every day your body has to work very hard to convert all of that food into energy.

The engine that is our body heats up significantly with all of that digestion and energy conversion going on, and your internal temperature goes up. Well, that heat needs to go somewhere; if it stays bottled up then you’re in pretty big trouble – we’re talking heat stroke and death. The sweat glands in your body act much like an air conditioning unit – taking the heat inside and sending it outside via the sweat glands.

Humans are actually pretty lucky, because not all mammals sweat. Most animals have evolved in some other way to keep cool; for example, dogs loll their tongue out and pant rapidly, bringing cooler drier air into the body and allowing the moisture on the tongue to evaporate, thus cooling off the rest of the body. Cats lick themselves to spread saliva over their fur, which evaporates and cools their body.

But sweating also occurs in so many other situations… sitting for your final exams, spotting flashing red lights in your car’s rear view mirror, meeting your future in-laws for the first time, receiving notice of a tax audit or a ringing phone at two in the morning.

That’s because, in an anxiety filled situation, your adrenal glands start pumping out adrenaline, preparing your body for a natural “fight or flight” reflex. In those situations, it’s normal to sweat. Sweating is naturally worse in the summer months than the cooler ones, and significantly worse depending on the climate in which you live.

But what if every situation makes you break out in a sweat? What if just breathing or coming from the shower or watching television or eating a bowl of ice cream makes you sweat? What if sleeping in an igloo – naked – makes you sweat? That’s not normal. And what’s worse, what if the sweat isn’t just a slight dampness under the armpits, tiny bit of perspiration kind of sweat -- but a measurable, soaking, wringing-wet kind of sweat. That’s a problem. It’s a big, quality of life, problem.

Pity also the poor person who stands near the person with excessive armpit sweating, as quite often the sweating is accompanied by a strong odour.

When the problem is specifically excessive sweating of the underarm it’s known in the medical world as Axillary Hyperhidrosis. It’s known on the “street” as Sweaty Pits. Fortunately, only a relatively small percentage of the world’s population suffers from excessive underarm sweating. If, however, you suffer from Axillary Hyperhidrosis, you might not think yourself so fortunate.

Over the last couple of years surgeons have pioneered a new treatment for excessive underarm sweating called Vaser Lipo that permanently reduces this problem. It is a minor day-case surgery, you only need local anaesthesia to the area, and you can go home afterwards.

If you are fed up struggling with the problem of excessive underarm sweating this may be worth investigating further.


----------------------------------------------------
Sue Woodall is the Patient Advisor at Dundrum Medical Cosmetic Clinic in Dundrum, Dublin in Ireland. If you want to know more about excessive underarm sweating, download a free copy of a comprehensive report called 'The Facts About Underarm Sweating and What You Need to Know' from http://UnderarmSweating.ie