cooling down
out to have a very rare condition that left them partially unable to feel pain along with normal skin sensation. They did, however, have enough sensation to distinguish between the temperature and texture of objects. Most people have certain types of sensory nerve fibers in the skin that feed sensory information to the brain. In these patients, however, those nerve fibers were in isn’t a scant supply in the top layers of the skin. Instead, sensory information was being relayed dangerous by nerve fibers associated with the blood that were deeper below the skin’s surface. “If the air temperature is 70 degrees, you but it normally use the nerve endings in the upper certainly part of the skin to realize that it’s cool and can be a you want to conserve heat,” says Rice. However, if temperature detection becomes more depending on sensory fibers are deep in the skin, they’re detecting body temperature rather than air temperature. one. “The brain is assuming the outside temperature is 98.6 and it reacts to that assumption by sweating,” says Rice. “That was what we speculated for these two patients, although most people who sweat excessively don’t appear to have impaired skin sensation.” Conversely, some people don’t sweat at all. Just like excessive sweating, the inability to sweat also runs in families, although it, too, can also be caused by other diseases, most typically skin diseases such as Guillain-Barre syndrome that block the sweat glands. People who can’t sweat have a much more sweating problem and have exhausted all other options. serious problem than those who sweat too much. Sweating Pontius says the most effective treatment these days is Boregulates the body temperature to keep it at a normal levtox. Just as Botox acts to block the transmission of a nerve el, so if you can’t sweat you run the risk of overheating. But signal to a muscle, it can block the transmission to the sweat though hyperhidrosis isn’t a dangerous condition, it can be a gland so it doesn’t get the signal to sweat. Botox treatments socially awkward one. can last six months to a year and the $1,000 cost to treat the Never Let Them See You Sweat underarms is sometimes covered by medical insurance. Hyperhidrosis afflicts about 3 percent of the population, “Botox works really well,” says Pontius. “I usually see peoaccording to the International Hyperhidrosis Society and it ple every nine months so it seems to last a good while. It’s affects men and women in equal numbers. Most often, the pretty quick and pretty painless to do.” profuse sweating occurs around the armpits, hands, and Botox is particularly effective for treatment of armpits and feet, which are areas where sweat glands are most numerit can be used for foreheads, hands, and feet too, although ous. People who have hyperhidrosis may be reluctant to because Botox can weaken the muscles it may be less than shake hands because they sweat so much and they often ideal for use on hands. have to change clothes a number of times in a day. Another treatment that focused entirely on feet and hands “The bulk of our patients are young women in their 20s is iontophoresis, a process that involves passing a mild elecwho have a lot of sweating and they’re socially conscious of trical current through water. This requires a battery-operatit,” says Pontius. ed device into which people put their hands and feet. Although she says she does see a number of brides-to-be No one is exactly sure why this works, although the theory who are nervous about sweating through the most expensive is that the electric current and the minerals in the water act dress they’ve ever bought on their big day, for the most part, together to thicken the skin on a microscopic level, blocking the people who come to Pontius for treatment have a chronic the sweat ducts. This treatment has been around since the
condition,
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healthylife
Photos: Woman in sweatband, © iStockphoto.com/Sandy Jones; Water droplets, © Rachakrit/Dreamstime.com; Woman sweating, © Audrey E. Benson; Lady Speed Stick and Suave, © iStockphoto.com/jfmdesign; Secret Clinical Strength, © iStockphoto.com/Lisa Thornberg.
Chronic sweating