How to manage excessive sweating

How to manage excessive sweating (Photo: iStock)

When you think about it, a lot of people are quietly dealing with problems they're too ashamed to talk about, like excessive sweating. If you're not struggling with something like this, it's easy to assume that you can just ignore it and get on with your life. But in reality, it's something that can affect your whole life.

If you are struggling with excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis, your body will produce an excessive amount of sweat even when you're not doing anything physically strenuous.

Within a short period of time, you will have large patches of sweat under your armpits, soaked socks if the problem area is your feet, or clammy palms that can make it difficult to write or work properly.

Hyperhidrosis can usually be caused by naturally overactive sweat glands, but in some cases, it's linked to pregnancy, medication and certain illnesses.

The good news is that there are ways to manage excessive sweating:

• Wear loose-fitting clothes

Tight-fitting clothes may be stylish but they're not always the best choice when you sweat a lot. That constriction doesn't allow air to flow easily and that will trigger your body to heat up and sweat even more.

When it's hot outside, try and stick to loose-fitting clothes that let you breathe and sweat comfortably without worrying about sweat patches. You can rock your body-hugging outfits at night or on days the temperatures have dipped.

• Choose breathable materials

The material you wear can make a difference especially if you also deal with odor. Fabrics like nylon, denim and spandex will trap more heat and worsen any body odour.

To be more comfortable go for breathable fabrics like linen and cotton that let out heat and moisture better. Remember to also choose cotton when buying socks if your feet sweat a lot.

• Avoid your triggers

Food and lifestyle habits are more areas you need to be careful of as you find ways to deal with excess sweating. When it comes to food, some of the choices you need to moderately consume are spicy foods, caffeine, alcohol and junk food.

A common lifestyle habit that might be making things worse for you is smoking so it might be finally time to quit.

• Use antiperspirants

Antiperspirant is an affordable way of minimizing sweating in cases that aren't severe. They contain active ingredients that can absorb sweat to keep you drier for a couple of hours.

Remember that antiperspirant is different from deodorant which only works to deal with odor. Get a scented antiperspirant if you're dealing with both excess sweating and odour. For areas like the feet, you can also buy special feet antiperspirants.

• Consult for further options

In some situations, the sweating can't be controlled with common measures like applying commonly sold antiperspirants. If you feel that it's starting to deeply affect your life, then you could benefit from seeking other solutions.

Consult a dermatologist on some heavy-duty antiperspirants or any other more effective measures that could help. A professional will help you understand the benefits and risks of available treatments and what would be best for you.