Have you ever looked at your palms and found them to be sweaty or clammy? Or found your armpits and face covered in excessive sweat and didn’t know why? We at radiance were wondering the same thing, so we decided to sit down with an expert and get her knowledge on why it happens.
Dr Heather Kornmehl, a board certified Dermatologist at Mohs Surgical Fellow , says that this excessive sweating is linked to a medical term called Hyperhidrosis.
She says,” typically speaking, common patient complaints will be like sweating through their regular antiperspirant. If they have it on their hands, it happens a lot like, I’m writing and the ink just gets all smudged, essentially the moisture on my hands is affecting the ink on my paper or I’m just embarrassed cuz I’m constantly feeling my hands are clammy and I don’t want to shake anyone’s hands or I physically notice perspiration from my face whatnot.”
According to Mayo Clinic Hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating that’s not always related to heat or exercise. The main symptom of hyperhidrosis is heavy sweating. This goes beyond sweating from being in a hot environment, exercising, or feeling anxious or stressed. The type of hyperhidrosis that usually affects the hands, feet, underarms or face and the sweating usually happens on one side of the body.
Dr Kornmehl says there aren’t different types of Hyperhidrosis but rather,’they occur in different locations on the body.” She says that for the first line of treatment against hyperhidrosis she recommends using Drysol which is a strong antiperspirant,”I’ll say use a clinical strength antiperspirant which is available over the counter. It just has higher aluminium concentrations and if that’s not helpful then we have other types we could use that affect essentially the neurotransmitters that are involved in sweating.”
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We then asked Dr Kornmehl if botox can be used in treatment for Hyperhidrosis.
“ Yeah. The issue with Botox is that insurance companies don’t like to cover it, which I know we’re in different countries, so different kinds of things, but pretty much paying out of pocket could get pricey. So that’s really the main limitation. But I mean, I’m all for it.”
She also says that using botox for areas such as the armpits is FDA approved whereas for other areas such as the feet, using botox is not FDA approved,”: but yeah we certainly do Botox it affects the neurotransmitters that are involved in sweat and that’s how it’s helpful. And I love Botox for hyperhidrosis. People love it for sure.”
However Dr Kornmehl says that usually topicals are first used for treatment and botox is generally used as a last line of treatment due its high costs and often it not being covered by insurance.
Apart from these medical treatments, Dr Kornmehl says certain lifestyle changes can also help when a person has hyperhidrosis but clinical treatments are usually the most effective.”I’d say trying to wear fabrics that aren’t going to make you super hot. but beyond that, I mean, there’s only so much you could do, and that’s where clinical interventions come into play.”
There is often a stigma that surrounds hyperhidrosis but Dr Kornmehl has a message towards that.
“ I mean, it’s really a societal perception, right? if people perceive sweating as non-hygienic or embarrassing or whatnot, then that’s how that’s a societal perception. So you could try to get society to shift its perception on sweating, but I think that’s a lot harder to accomplish. So I don’t know.
“ But I think people recognizing that this is much more common than, this is common and people shouldn’t feel like they’re suffering in isolation. There’s plenty of people dealing with this issue.”
