Sweating is a necessary part of helping maintain homeostasis, or balance, within your body. In fact, sweating is used from the time sweat glands develop when you are a baby all the way through your elderly years, although the types and amounts of sweat may vary throughout your lifetime. However, not all people sweat the same. While some people may hardly sweat at all, others may sweat constantly. This may be due to genetics, or it can be due to a condition, such as hyperhidrosis.
Sweat Glands
Sweat is produced by two types of sweat glands, apocrine glands and eccrine glands. Eccrine glands are the most prominent on your body, with glands located in almost every part of your skin. These glands secrete mostly water and salt as sweat. Apocrine glands are not as prominent on the skin; they are focused more in the areas where hair follicles reside, such as the armpit, groin and on the scalp. These glands produce sweat that has more of a fatty content and contribute to the smell associated with body odor as bacteria break the sweat down on your skin.
Process
Sweating is part of your body's natural way of keeping balance, or homeostasis. Your body is constantly producing heat as it burns calories to create energy for your cells to operate. When more heat is produced than is needed to maintain your body temperature, or if your body is subjected to other heat sources, like the sun, sweating comes into play to cool the body back down. Sweating cools your body through evaporation, pulling heat away from the skin as the liquid evaporates from the skin surface. Sweat from the apocrine glands is also associated with stress, which is why stressful situations may also cause you to sweat more.
Hyperhidrosis
While it's normal to sweat, excessive sweating all the time may be a sign of a condition known as "hyperhidrosis." Hyperhidrosis consists of excessive sweating, especially in the armpits and on the palms of your hands or soles of your feet. Hyperhidrosis can be caused by a wide range of issues including side effects of medications, emotional stress, overactive thyroid, low blood sugar and menopause. In rare cases, it can be associated with diseases like lymphoma, or as a sign of a medical emergency, like a heart attack.
Treatment
Excessive sweating can be treated in one or more of the following ways. The most common form of treatment is the use of an antiperspirant. If regular antiperspirants are not strong enough, a prescription-strength version can also be prescribed by your doctor. Anticholinergic drugs can also be prescribed to block sweating by interfering with the actions of acetylcholine in your body. Iontophoresis treats sweating through the use of battery-powered electrical currents. In extreme cases, Botox shots or surgery can be performed to block the sweat glands or significantly reduce the amount of sweat being produced.
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