Excessive sweating is a well-studied medical phenomenon, yet the data acquired is strongly varied and at times even contradictory. Though the research is not definitive, it seems that there are a few common causes for excessive sweating. It is called hyperhidrosis in scientific parlance, which literally means “excess sweat”. Hyperhidrosis can be primary or secondary, meaning it is either something you have had since birth or something you acquired in life.
Congenital factors seem to be the most common excessive sweating causes. These congenital factors range from anomalies or deformities in the spinal cord to a problem with the “wiring” – that is, the programming in your brain. In the end, it is not a problem with your skin, but with your brain, which is responsible for regulating the sweat glands. It is also possible that these anomalies are injuries acquired at any time from one’s birth.
The second item in our list of common excessive sweating causes is excess body weight. Larger people have a harder time cooling off because fat has a higher insulating capacity than other body tissues. That means that in an obese person, the internal organs get hot and need to cool off, using blood as a medium for temperature transfer, and your skin as the cooling mechanism. Additionally, excess weight increases the exertion for all movements, consuming more energy and causing more heat to be produced from cellular energy production.
Thirdly, it may be a psychosomatic reaction, brought about by one’s psyche. If you are constantly nervous or high-strung, you put strain on your body by being in a constant state of being on the verge of fight-or-flight syndrome. Sweating is a natural reaction to preparing to fight or run away, because your body knows that either activity requires intense physical exertion and cooling will be needed. In short, your nerves, speaking in a figurative manner, can be the cause of your excessive sweating. This one is particularly vicious, since social conditioning has made it so that you get nervous when you sweat – you do not want to show fear or you want to avoid embarrassment.
Due to the great variety of causes for hyperhidrosis, there are not cut-and-dried treatments for it. Each individual will need to be diagnosed extensively in order to ascertain exactly what is causing his or her excessive sweating. The range of prices for treatments varies greatly, so you can but hope that what you have is something easily and affordably curable.
