Around 7.8 million people in the country suffer from hyperhidrosis, commonly known as heavy sweating. The primary sign and symptom of hyperhidrosis is abnormal sweating that might not be related to exercise or heat. In this condition, the amount of sweat is so high that it might make your clothes wet, or sweat might simply just drip off from your hands regularly.

Besides posing a challenge to your day-to-day activities, it could also result in social embarrassment and anxiety. Furthermore, the sweating might either hamper a single area of the body or present throughout the body.

Forms of hyperhidrosis
There are two primary forms or types of heavy sweating. These include:

• Generalized hyperhidrosis: In this, the heavy sweating takes place all through the body.

• Focal hyperhidrosis: In this, there is localized heavy sweating. For instance, if there is excessive sweating on soles and the palms, it is known as palmoplantar hyperhidrosis.

Signs and symptoms of heavy sweating
Normally, episodes of hyperhidrosis, or heavy sweating, might appear once a week. There might be more frequent instances of it, too.

A few symptoms of excessive sweating include:

• Frequent sweating
• Excessive sweating that might soak your clothes
• Wet or clammy palms
• Wet or clammy soles

Excessive-sweating might lead to:

• Painful and irritable skin conditions, such as bacterial infection or fungal infection
• Self-consciousness
• Hesitance in making physical contact
• Constant worry about sweat stains on clothing
• Being socially withdrawn
• Depression
• Opting only for selective employment option where human interaction or physical contact is either limited or not required
• A lot of time wastage every day in dealing with sweat
• Constant wiping or placing pads or napkins under the arms
• Frequent clothes changes
• Wearing dark or baggy clothes
• Constantly washing the face
• Constant worry about body odor

What causes hyperhidrosis?
Most people believe that hyperhidrosis is linked to the emotional as well as the mental state of a patient. And that it is only a psychological condition that primarily affects nervous, stressed, or anxious individuals.

However, experts have completely dismissed this fact. Researchers are of the view that hyperhidrosis is not due to emotional stress, nervousness, or anxiety, and might develop in anyone. Many a times, a patient only experiences the mental and emotional feelings as a result of hyperhidrosis. Genes certainly have a key role to play and is a common risk factor amongst people developing hyperhidrosis. It is, therefore, believed that this condition is inherited, and most people who have a parent or a sibling with the condition develop hyperhidrosis. Listed below are some facts about heavy sweating:

• A person may experience the first sign and symptom of heavy sweating early in their adolescence
• The commonly affected regions of hyperhidrosis include armpits, face, hands, and feet
• It is not life-threatening, and there are treatment measures and remedies that can cure the condition effectively