HOMEOPATHY & EXCESSIVE SWEATING

‘Sweating it out’ is all right, when you exert. But, what about sweating that just drips from your hands, armpits, or feet — even when you don’t move an inch? It’s irritating and embarrassing — well, sweating of the hands may also be socially uncomfortable.

Excessive sweating [hyperhidrosis, in medical terms] affects thousands of people worldwide — approximately, three per cent.

Excess sweating is not customary sweating. Or, sweating while playing a game of tennis. It is about sweaty hands, feet, or underarms, loaded with sweat — day-in and day-out — for no obvious reason. In other words, we have you in the picture. You are sweating excessively, with no relief, at all times, even when your external conditions are friendly.

CAUSE & EFFECT

The hypothalamus, a part of the brain, regulates our body’s sweat functions. It sends sensory signals to the sweat nerves, when sweating is required. The nerves, needed to trigger such sweaty responses, are located in the chest cavity. This is called the sympathetic nervous system. When such nerves send ‘prompts,’ to the sweat glands, sweating is generated.

In individuals, who sweat profusely, the sweat glands refuse to comply with the signals. The result is a sizeable volume of sweat that trickles from the palms and feet. This may also include one’s underarms, chest, belly, or face.

In certain cases, excessive sweating may be related to a latent medical condition. This would require proper diagnosis and treatment.

Most individuals with sweaty palms, underarms, or feet, may have the following emotional or psychological portrait.

• Constant wiping of the hands with handkerchief
• Evade shaking hands with others
• Difficulty with writing and using paper
• Difficulty with make-up and clothes — the sweat tends to appear on clothing, giving it an ungainly, map-like moist appearance
• Problems with intimate relationships; the individual may, sometimes, be socially withdrawn, lost in thought, tense, anxious; they may have lack of focus, or poor concentration
• Problems handling money, using computer keyboard, gadgets, or playing musical instruments
• Difficulty with getting a manicure; in foot sweat, pedicure may be unpleasant.

A continued anxiety state regarding excessive sweating may affect not only one’s personal and social lives, but also professional lives. Individuals who experience excessive underarm sweating may find it discomfiting to manage everyday social situations — of situations that require them to come close together with others. It would also be no surprise for some to remain secluded from their peers, and portray low self-esteem.

Is excessive sweating a treatable disorder? The answer is yes, and no. It all depends on the option you choose. Homeopathy has a fairly good clinical record in reducing excess sweating. On the other hand, conventional medicine advocates the use of anti-cholinergic drugs and/or surgery to suppress, or remove, your overactive sweat glands. The latter is not free of side-effects — with some of them being serious.

FACT-FILE

While the classical presentation of excessive hand, or foot, sweating is unrestrained appearance of sweat, for no apparent reason, the problem may not extend during sleep. The irony, of course, is there seems to be often no correlation between being anxious, or active, because excessive sweating can happen at times when the person is not really on the move, or nervous.

Excessive sweating is suggested to be an inherited, or hereditary, condition. Put simply, it occurs owing to excess activity of a part of our nervous system — the autonomous part of our nervous system. We have no control on its functions. The system is its own ‘boss. ‘

HOMEOPATHY: THE SAFE, EFFECTIVE OPTION FOR EXCESSIVE SWEATING

Homeopathy is useful in reducing excessive sweating; in certain, but not in all, cases, it may provide complete, tangible relief.

The basic principle of homeopathy is “what causes can also cure.” In other words, a medicinal substance that causes symptoms similar to the illness may also cure the same illness when taken in its diluted homeopathic form [micro-dose].

Homeopathy aims at looking and understanding the cause of excessive sweating. For example, the origin for excessive sweating, in a sensitive individual, may be extreme anxiety, or apprehension of an impending event, or something the individual just can’t figure out. The fact is the trigger exists somewhere, deep inside the body and mind.

This is the key area, or a point of significance, to a professional homeopathic physician for treating any health issue — acute, or long-standing — including excessive sweating.