How to avoid sweating during times of stress and anxiety?

Hyperhidrosis at the emotional level is a condition during which sweating increases, associated with emotions of various origins. This can be affected by both negative and positive life situations. Excessive sweating is more often observed in people with an unstable emotional state. If sweating is excessive due to emotions, then there are disorders of the autonomic nervous system of varying degrees of severity. In this case, individual areas, as well as the entire body, may suffer from excessive sweating (under stress, sweat flows heavily from the head, palms and armpits sweat).

Sweating may increase under the influence of strong emotions

brief information

Stress and overexertion await a person at every step. These include family troubles and problems at work. Sometimes even thoughts about an upcoming situation associated with nervous tension contribute to the release of sweat. And based on the fact that all human life consists of a string of stressful shocks, it is not difficult to predict what the outcome will be.

Profuse sweating occurs during anxiety, overexertion, and fear. In a calm state, a person produces a small amount of sweat.
To date, the factors that affect the functioning of the sympathetic nervous system and the glands responsible for sweat production have not been precisely established. Psycho-emotional hyperhidrosis manifests itself in those people who overreact to any, even minor, emotional stress. If a person sweats too often and heavily, he has problems with the nervous system.

How to fix the problem?

No one can predict how and when they will find themselves in such a situation. Emotional stress, which usually causes sweaty palms, can be difficult to control. The problem of wet hands is difficult to solve, but it can be done.

Here are just a few tips that MedExpress Regional Medical Director Timothy Mines gives his patients:

If you know you're going to have a particularly stressful day, practice deep breathing. Although it sounds simple, taking a deep breath, pausing for a few seconds, and then exhaling can really help release whatever may be bothering you.
Try applying some antiperspirant to your palms at night. This time of day is the best time to use this product, since at rest the ingredients can be absorbed into the skin without interference and block the sweat glands.
Place a small bag of baking soda, cornstarch, or baby powder in your purse or briefcase and apply the powder to your palms before a stressful situation. These substances will absorb excess moisture.

Factors of nervous sweating

The factor behind profuse sweating during various stressful situations is the incorrect functioning of a specific part of the nervous autonomic system, that is, the sympathetic nerve, which controls certain functions of the body that are not controlled by a person. Namely: vascular activity, number of heart beats, pupil size and sweat production.

It is unknown what exactly causes a person to sweat when experiencing minor anxiety.

Some experts believe that the reason is the hypersensitivity of the sweat glands to an increased amount of adrenaline, which enters the blood as a result of emotional stress. Others say that this is a hereditary disorder associated with a disruption in the functioning of the autonomic center of the human brain, which controls the functioning of the glands responsible for the secretion of sweat.

Nervous sweating

Nervous sweat accompanies a person at crucial moments in life, when a person is nervous and is overwhelmed by excitement or emotional stress. This makes it difficult to do business, especially for people whose work is directly related to working with people, be it an entrepreneur or a bartender in a club; it is not very pleasant to work with a person whose palms are constantly wet.

A person who sweats a lot arouses suspicion, because it is believed that he has something to hide, and this is what makes him nervous. When you are nervous, excessive sweating occurs in your palms or armpits, and there can be many such situations every day.

The most valuable tip for stopping excessive sweating is to try to calm down.

Another problem that hyperhidrosis causes is the constant smell of sweat, which repels others, because it is unpleasant for everyone. Nervous sweat is characterized by a sharper and more pungent odor, as the nerves trigger the work of the apocrine sweat glands, which are localized in the groin or armpit. They contain lipids, which create favorable conditions for the life of bacteria. This explains the bad smell from a person who is nervous, with hyperhidrosis.

Sweating of an emotional nature

The nervous system and the glands that produce sweat are responsible for sweating in the body. The nervous system is a union of organs formed by nervous tissue that regulate all physiological processes and metabolism. It is divided into vegetative and somatic.

The somatic department is responsible for human-controlled processes, such as: the work of the limbs, speech, i.e. for body coordination and information perception.

Vegetative is responsible for processes uncontrollable by humans: metabolism and the functioning of internal organs. The autonomic system includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems. Hyperhidrosis is controlled by the sympathetic nervous system. The system itself provides the body's response to overexertion; it prepares the body for stressful situations and helps a person pull himself together.

Sweating during stress is an indicator of a person’s psycho-emotional state. Under stress, there is an increased release of adrenaline into the blood, and the body reacts to this with increased sweat production.

Sweating when communicating causes of occurrence

Some people sweat during normal interactions, in completely normal situations. This happens as follows. When a person begins to communicate, he gets worried. Impulses from the nervous system are transmitted to the sweat glands and they begin to intensively produce sweat in response to a stressful situation.

A person feels that his body, especially the armpits, palms and face, is covered with sweat. Moisture appears abundantly in areas visible to the interlocutor, and after a while an unpleasant odor appears. All this leads to the fact that a person begins to worry even more and, accordingly, sweat. It turns out to be a cyclical process that becomes impossible to break.

Usually, when communicating, people with a sensitive nervous system, shy, unsure of themselves, and with a burden of complexes that appeared in childhood, sweat. Excessive sweating during communication interferes with your personal life and getting a good job. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures as quickly as possible to reduce sweating during stress and communication.

Stress and sweating

In a normal environment, apart from the temperature factor, stress can be the cause of profuse sweating. This mainly affects people with emotionally unstable psyches. They secrete sweat instantly. In such people, nerve cells send signals to the glands responsible for sweat production. If a person experiences fear, uncertainty, resentment, profuse sweating occurs with every surge of adrenaline. The body's response to stress can be immediate (panic, fear) or protracted (work and personal problems accompanied by constant irritability). Hence, sweating head, wet armpits, sweaty palms are signs of stress.

Signs of nervous sweating

What to do if you sweat from nerves? To begin with, it is worth differentiating excessive sweating as a separate individual problem (initial sweating) from sweating that is the result of an existing disease (recurrent sweating). With profuse sweating, people are increasingly seeking advice from specialists in skin diseases.

Increased sweating may be associated with certain diseases. To find out, you need to go through a number of procedures, first of all you need to take tests. To determine thyroid diseases, it is necessary to donate blood for hormones. If the disease is present, the hormone levels are changed. To rule out tuberculosis, it is necessary to take an x-ray of the lungs and also donate blood. With these diseases, increased sweating is observed, so they need to be excluded.

It is imperative to have a cardiogram done to rule out heart disease, which also causes profuse sweating. When the body is intoxicated, in addition to nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, increased sweating is observed.

After going through all the necessary research and making sure that there are no diseases other than symptoms of sweating, you should begin to cure excessive sweating.

X-ray of the lungs is necessary to rule out tuberculosis

Stress

Heavy sweating is a completely natural reaction in an extreme situation. But what happens to the body during a period of prolonged stress: for example, during a crisis at work or in a personal relationship?

A prolonged release of adrenaline and cortisol triggers the process of self-destruction. A person may suffer from insomnia, neuroses, depression, and be subject to increased anxiety and panic. This condition is called essential hyperhidrosis.

Most often it affects specialists in high-risk professions: divers, sappers, nuclear energy specialists. The risk group also includes people on whom human life and health depend: doctors, rescuers, firefighters.

Emotional hyperhidrosis manifests itself not only by excessive sweating at work and when communicating with people. Night sweats cause severe discomfort. It provokes complexes and interferes with the formation of personal and family relationships.

The psychosomatics of the disease shows that the cause of emotional hyperhidrosis lies in the hushing up of problems and the accumulation of negative emotions. In this way, old grievances come out. This is a psychosomatic signal about hidden conflicts.

Treatment

How to prevent nervous tension and excessive sweating:

Treatment with medications. If sweating of an emotional nature is observed, sedatives can be quite effective. These are herbal tinctures of motherwort and valerian or psychotropic medications prescribed by the doctor. Taking medications in this category is necessary for the following reason: an unstable emotional state contributes to excessive sweating, and sweating affects mental well-being. By relieving tension and agitation, these drugs help prevent stress, which results in sweating. The doctor can also prescribe drugs that reduce the secretion of sweat glands, such as: Propantheline, Klonopik, etc. But they have side effects: disruption of the heart, problems with sleep and vision, drying out the oral mucosa - therefore they are not recommended for long-term use. You should not self-medicate; medications are taken on the recommendation and under the supervision of a doctor.
Antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride. The very discovery and development of antiperspirants has advanced the solution to the problem of excessive sweating many levels forward. They contain chemicals such as aluminum chloride that block excessive sweat.
Botox procedures. To do this, they use a poison with paralytic properties - botulinum toxin, which is administered in minimal doses. This drug has a paralytic effect on nerve and muscle threads, blocking the work of the glands responsible for the secretion of sweat, without having a toxic effect on the entire body. The process itself takes place on an outpatient basis and lasts an hour. The result occurs within six months, after which expensive procedures must be repeated again. But in the future, you will have to find another way to treat and eliminate sweating, since over time the body gets used to the drug and its effect wears off.
Psychological influences. Emotional therapy is beneficial for profuse sweating, which occurs due to mental tension and stress. This process in itself does not eradicate sweating, but helps to reconsider involvement in it, reduce the impact of nervousness, increase resistance to stress, and improve self-esteem and emotional conditions. When experiencing anxiety, the amount of sweat produced always increases. If you control your emotional state and stop getting nervous on every occasion, you can reduce sweating. Various processes of relieving tension, using physical activity and switching thoughts to something positive can help with this. Consulting a knowledgeable specialist can also bring results in normalizing the emotional balance that affects sweat secretion.
Ethnoscience. To reduce and prevent excessive sweating, you can use various medicinal drugs from the people. These include herbal ointments and herbal tinctures, baths with a decoction of string, oak, chamomile flowers and mint leaves. These methods are distinguished by their natural origin and are practical to use, but require long preparation and a period of treatment.
Maintaining the nerve system. In the modern world, a person faces many psychological stresses, which during stressful situations can lead to nervous breakdowns. As a result, many diseases of the body creep out, including myocardial infarction, diabetes, stomach ulcers, hemorrhage, asthma, which lead to sweating. In short, the psychological causes of illness are too serious to ignore.

Surgical method

Surgical intervention is an extremely complex process, with certain negative consequences (scars, unbalanced sweating), and is used in the latter case. Having chosen such a procedure, it is imperative to consult the attending physician, as well as another professional. Surgical intervention to reduce sweating involves two things:

in the first case, the nerve receptors that affect the functioning of the glands responsible for the secretion of sweat are interrupted: the effect is temporary, the connection between the nerve endings and the glands is resumed after a few months or a year;
in the second case, the glands are susceptible to destruction: the effect lasts for life.

One of the surgical procedures is sympathectomy. The process is painful, reversible and irreversible. With a reversible connection, the nerve ending that regulates sweat production is tightened (clips), in which case the clip can be removed. When the connection is irreversible, the nerve endings are interrupted, as a result of which the nerve impulses to the glands responsible for the production of sweat are blocked.

In principle, the sympathectomy procedure is effective throughout life, but there are recurrent situations in some cases. There is also a side effect in the form of sweating, a compensating effect (all over the body, in the folds of the groin) and various stages of progression.

To the general chagrin of those suffering, the sympathectomy process does not bring a positive result for sweating of the head; a greater effect in this pathology is achieved by the Botox procedure, albeit for a certain period.

Botox can help with scalp hyperhidrosis

Folk remedies for excessive sweating

A natural deodorant is a decoction of oak bark. Brew one tablespoon of bark in one glass of boiling water. You can add lemon juice. Wipe sweating areas of the body with a cotton swab dipped in the infusion.

Chamomile infusion has antibacterial and aseptic effects. Pour boiling water over a couple of tablespoons of flowers, after a few minutes add two tablespoons of soda.

Take sage infusion internally - a quarter glass 3-4 times a day. It has a calming effect and normalizes the functioning of the sweat glands.

Degrees of sweating and methods of control:

Easy. Then the skin of the armpits becomes covered from mild excitement or physical activity. You can treat sweating with leeches, burnt alum, and use physiotherapy and reflexology. After a shower, dry your skin with a towel, then apply antiperspirants at night. Drink soothing herbal teas - lemon balm, mint, chamomile, peony, valerian root. Take up auto training. Observe what makes you worry (people's words, actions) and try to suppress fear or anger at this moment.
The average degree (the appearance of sweat stains on clothes, a pungent odor) can be cured by psychotherapeutic techniques and medications - Atropine (affects the glands), tranquilizers or antidepressants. Contact a doctor or psychologist.
A severe degree is accompanied by streams of sweat with minimal excitement. A depressive state occurs. There is no desire to do anything, meet people, go to work. Operations to mechanically remove sweat glands help temporarily relieve excess sweat. The last resort is surgery (endoscopic sympathectomy). This procedure eliminates sweating for good; it is performed when the armpits and hands sweat at the same time. Individual psychotherapy sessions are indicated.

If your face sweats

Infusion or tablets with valerian extract, herbal infusions, oak bark decoction, and sage infusion lotions will help against intense sweating. You can wipe your face with ice cubes made from a decoction of sage, oak bark and chamomile. This tones the skin and tightens pores. Make a forehead bandage from moisture-wicking fabric. Do not eat sweets, flour, spicy foods. Avoid hot chocolate, coffee, and tea for a while.

Recommendations

Experts highlight a number of recommendations that should be followed by people suffering from severe sweating from the head.

Schedule. In this case, healthy sleep is necessary, which lasts at least 9 hours and occurs at night. If this factor is not observed, the human body will wear out and weaken, which will lead to nervousness, sleep disturbances in the form of insomnia, and increased sweating. As a result, stress and an increase in the disease.
Balanced physical activity. Jogging, water procedures, and a type of dancing are effective. You can also use a bicycle or treadmill. All this should be on an ongoing basis and in order to avoid addiction, it should be alternated. Spending time outdoors also benefits.
Proper nutrition. It is not recommended to starve the body; you should exclude alcoholic beverages and strong coffee from your diet. It is better to replace it with fresh juices and teas. It is preferable to use products of natural origin (cereals, fruits and vegetables) so that the diet contains less sugar and fat. This promotes proper and fast metabolism. It is recommended not to include pickled and barrel-salted foods, chocolate and coffee in your diet, and to moderate the use of salt.
Massages of problem areas and various therapeutic therapies.
Herbal therapy. Herbs such as mint, licorice, parsnip, wild rosemary have a sedative effect.

Ledum has a sedative effect

Prevention of sweating

The most accessible way to reduce sweating during nervous tension is to correct your own lifestyle. The following preventive measures will help:

Hygiene: Taking a warm shower every day will greatly reduce the amount of bacteria on your skin that causes bad odor. And using antiperspirants after water procedures will consolidate the achieved effect for a long time. If your palms or feet sweat a lot during the day, you can rinse them with cold water. This must be done for additional cooling and narrowing of the receptors in problem areas of the skin.
Nutrition: it is recommended to give preference to clean and slightly cool water, giving up strong coffee and tea; the daily menu should include foods rich in vitamins, magnesium, potassium and calcium. The consumption of spicy foods and alcohol is not recommended, and smoked, fried, fatty and spicy foods increase the unpleasant odor of sweat.
Physical activity: small daily exercise adapts the nervous system to stressful situations, normalizing sweat production. Hiking, jogging, playing tennis, etc. are great.
Herbal medicine: it is beneficial to brew soothing herbs (chamomile, mint, lemon balm, etc.), which are taken after breakfast or before going to bed.
Physiotherapy: electrosleep, electrophoresis

Excessive sweating is one of the main indicators of stress. Abundant secretion of sweat glands from the surface of the skin indicates a disruption of the nervous system, hormonal or psychogenic disorders. But there are effective methods to combat this fairly common phenomenon. Understanding the true causes of hyperhidrosis and an integrated approach to its treatment will have a positive effect