Stop excessive armpit sweating

Sweating, especially, if excessive, can be quite a problem when it comes to social or romantic interactions. Everybody sweats, especially under the armpit, but there are those unfortunate ones that just cannot seem to stop sweating, in both hot and cold weather.

Excessive underarm sweating is also known by the medical term of axilary hyperhidrosis. People who have this problem sweat a lot in the armpit area, with damp circles and stains showing on their clothes, and there is also the unpleasant body odor, which is a problem in itself.

If sweating starts to pose a great problem and a serious interference with normal life, there are several steps to be taken in order to solve it.

Antiperspirants and deodorants

Antiperspirants are products that aim to reduce sweating or perspiration. Most of them are based on aluminum salt, most commonly aluminum chloride hexahydrate. Different types of antiperspirants usually contain different percent of these salts, and the ones that can be bought over the counter have aluminum salt content of 19 percent and above, while the stronger ones, which require a prescription by a doctor, like Drysol, usually have between 19 and 25 percent of aluminum salt.

Antiperspirants, especially those that are prescription-strength, are applied topically onto the skin in and around the armpits in the evening and washed away in the morning. They work by blocking the activity of sweat glands in that area.

Contrary to the common belief, deodorants do not stop or reduce perspiration. They only hide or reduce odor that comes along with the sweat.

Procedures

Iontophoresis is a non-invasive procedure for solving the problem of excessive sweating, which uses mild electric currents directed to the sweat glands. For best results, it is recommended to have three 10 to 20 minutes sessions over several weeks.

Botox, which is used in many conspetic procedures, can help with excessive sweating as well. It is injected in several places in the armpit area, but the treatment is temporary, as Botox usually wears off in six months.

The most effective procedure is, unfortunately, the most invasive one. It is called Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS) and it is 95 percent effective.

In this procedure several small incisions are made in the armpit and when a sympathetic nerve is found it is either clamped or cut. Because this nerve sends signals to the sweat glands, when it is disabled the sweat glands stop working.

Other options for solving the problem of excessive armpit sweating include cutting down on caffeine, using talc, wearing loose clothes made of natural materials, and if what is causing sweating is stress, then yoga, meditation and self-hypnosis may be the answer.