Sweating is a normal biological function that helps regulate body temperature. Your body produces sweat to maintain its ideal temperature of 98.6 degrees F (37 degrees C). Without sweat, you'd be susceptible to suffering a heat stroke on extremely warm days when you're active outdoors. Despite its importance, some people suffer embarrassment from a medical condition known as axillary hyperhidrosis that causes excessive underarm sweating. Fortunately, there are ways for you to reduce underarm sweat.
Monitor Your Diet
How-to-Stop-Sweating.org reports that certain foods trigger sweat glands. In particular, chili, garlic, caffeine, onions, spicy foods and peppers have been found to cause some people to sweat excessively. If you suffer from extreme underarm sweating, avoid consuming these foods.
Use Antiperspirant Deodorants
After bathing thoroughly and scrubbing with a deodorant soap, apply an antiperspirant that contains aluminum chloride to your dried underarms. The Mayo Clinic states that aluminum chloride can effectively reduce sweat in your underarms. Unfortunately, aluminum chloride can also cause severe skin irritation. If your underarms become irritated, immediately stop applying the product to your underarms.
Prescription-Strength Antiperspirants
If standard antiperspirants won't stop excessive underarm sweating, ask your doctor for a prescription-strength antiperspirant. The Mayo Clinic notes that prescription strength antiperspirants contain the chemical aluminum chloride hexahydrate, an exceptionally potent chemical that you won't find in standard deodorants. It penetrates your sweat glands and prohibits the secretion of moisture. This type of antiperspirant is intended to be applied before bedtime on a nightly basis for the first week. After the initial week, you'll only need to apply the antiperspirant periodically, if at all.
Take Oral Medications
Your doctor can also prescribe one of several oral medications to combat hyperhidrosis. The Mayo Clinic identifies three types of oral medications that can reduce underarm sweating: anticholinergics, clonidine and carbonic anhydrase. All three can control excessive underarm sweat because they block nerve impulses to sweat glands, which will diminish perspiration. Expect oral medications to work within a span of two weeks.
Botulinum Toxin (Botox)
Botox is another form of treatment that can halt excessive sweating. Similar to oral medications, Botox injections obstruct the nerves that cause the glands under your arms to sweat. Your doctor may need to inject you with as many as 20 small doses of Botox. Botox is a popular method to prevent excessive underarm sweating because it typically begins to work in as few as a couple of days. A drawback to this treatment is that its benefits are only temporary and you will require additional Botox injections in four to six months.
Undergo Surgery
According to the Mayo Clinic, as a last resort, severe hyperhidrosis can be surgically treated by removing some of your sweat glands. Removing sweat glands will disrupt the nerve signals that activate excessive sweating, and you should notice improvements immediately.
