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Embarrassing Symptoms
Dealing With Sweat
You'll never get a goodnight kiss if your shirt's soaked with sweat and you smell like a locker room. That's bad news for those who start dripping with sweat the minute their anxiety level shoots up. The good news is this: There are a lot of effective ways to prevent an onslaught of sweat from turning you into a stink bomb.
What works, and what doesn't? "Showering lowers bacteria temporarily. Deodorants lower bacterial counts for up to a day," says Gabe Mirkin, MD, a practicing physician in the Washington, D.C., area. The role of diet remains an area of controversy. "Greasy, fried foods are thought by some to promote body odor, but the results have proven inconclusive."
For those who sweat excessively (a condition called hyperhidrosis), new treatments have emerged. Botulinum toxin, known for its ability to reduce wrinkles, also reduces sweat by interfering with nerve endings that control sweat. Antiperspirants with up to 20 percent aluminum chloride block pores so sweat has nowhere to go. There is even a medicine, taken orally, that can prevent sweat glands from stimulating sweat. Called anticholinergics and used to treat depression and other mental illnesses, they can cause a number of side effects and are used rarely.
Because sweating plays an important role in cooling the body and ridding it of impurities, measures to halt this natural function of the body should be approached with caution and under the guidance of a dermatologist, Mirkin says.
You'll never get a goodnight kiss if your shirt's soaked with sweat and you smell like a locker room. That's bad news for those who start dripping with sweat the minute their anxiety level shoots up. The good news is this: There are a lot of effective ways to prevent an onslaught of sweat from turning you into a stink bomb.
What works, and what doesn't? "Showering lowers bacteria temporarily. Deodorants lower bacterial counts for up to a day," says Gabe Mirkin, MD, a practicing physician in the Washington, D.C., area. The role of diet remains an area of controversy. "Greasy, fried foods are thought by some to promote body odor, but the results have proven inconclusive."
For those who sweat excessively (a condition called hyperhidrosis), new treatments have emerged. Botulinum toxin, known for its ability to reduce wrinkles, also reduces sweat by interfering with nerve endings that control sweat. Antiperspirants with up to 20 percent aluminum chloride block pores so sweat has nowhere to go. There is even a medicine, taken orally, that can prevent sweat glands from stimulating sweat. Called anticholinergics and used to treat depression and other mental illnesses, they can cause a number of side effects and are used rarely.
Because sweating plays an important role in cooling the body and ridding it of impurities, measures to halt this natural function of the body should be approached with caution and under the guidance of a dermatologist, Mirkin says.
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SOURCES: Richard Price, DDS, consumer advisor, American Dental Association. Gabe Mirkin, MD, practicing physician, Washington, D.C. Patricia Raymond, MD, Virginia-based gastroenterologist. Marie-Helene Sajous, fellow, Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center. Annie Lent, MD, allergist, National Jewish Medical and Research Center, Denver. Charles E. Crutchfield III, MD, dermatologist; professor, University of Minnesota Medical School. © 2008 WebMD, LLC. All rights reserved.
