Hyperhidrosis is a physiological, medical condition characterized by excessive or unexpected sweating. While it’s natural for the body to sweat, sweating beyond what’s necessary to maintain a normal body temperature can be irritating to the skin, embarrassing, and stressful.

People who suffer from hyperhidrosis may constantly worry about how much they are sweating. Some may spend hours each day dealing with sweat—changing clothes, “freshening up,” wiping, placing napkins or pads under their arms, bathing, and hiding under dark-colored, bulky clothes. Occasionally, people with hyperhidrosis lose friends and opportunities because of their sweating problem. Afraid of what people will think, sufferers may even make excuses to stay home, or choose careers in which they don’t have to interact with people. Emotional problems, including depression and decreased confidence, can result. When hyperhidrosis affects the hands, feet, armpits, or face, it’s called primary hyperhidrosis. This means that the excessive sweating problem is an independent condition and not related to some other underlying medical issue. On rare occasions, excessive sweating may occur over the entire body. This is called generalized hyperhidrosis and is often caused by an underlying medical condition or is experienced as a side effect of a medication. When hyperhidrosis is caused by another medical condition or a medication, it’s called secondary hyperhidrosis. Many medical conditions may cause secondary hyperhidrosis, including endocrine disorders. Additionally, hyperhidrosis can also be related to anxiety disorders.

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There are two to four million sweat glands distributed over the body. The majority of these are “eccrine” sweat glands, which are found in large numbers on the soles of the feet, the palms, the forehead, and the cheeks, and in the armpits. Another type of sweat gland is called the “apocrine” gland. Apocrine glands are found in the armpits and genital region. They produce a thick fluid. When this fluid comes in contact with bacteria on the skin surface, it produces a characteristic potent smell. Both the eccrine and apocrine sweat glands are activated by nerves. These nerves respond to a variety of stimuli, including heat, hormones, emotions, exercise, etc. In the hyperhidrosis sufferer, sweat glands appear to overreact to stimuli and may also be generally overactive, producing more sweat than is necessary. Hyperhidrosis appears to run in families, but little else is known about its exact causes.