What is Hyperhydrosis?
What is Hyperhydrosis?
People sometimes use the term hyperhydrosis to refer to the medical health problem of excessive sweating, which is actually hyperhidrosis.
It’s easy to see where the confusion arises. Obviously, excessive sweating involves an over-production of sweat, which mainly consists of salt and water. Hence, an over-production of sweat could be considered over-production of water… hence hyper-hydro-sis… the problem of over-production of water. Although it makes logical sense, the correct medical term is hyperhidrosis and is derived from “hyper” meaning “too much” and “hidrosis” which is the Greek word for sweating. (hidrōsis, sweating, from hidroun, to sweat, from hidrōs, sweat). Someone who had hyperhidrosis would be called hyperhidrotic.
A commonly accepted definition of hyperhidrosis is, “abnormally increased perspiration, in excess of that required for regulation of body temperature”. A more detailed, medical definition, is “Excessive sweating, which may be localized or generalized, chronic or acute, and often accumulating in visible drops on the skin. Also known as ephidrosis; polyhidrosis; sudatoria”.
Of course, we all need to produce sweat at certain times to help with cooling the body… for example, after exercise, we generate sweat to help cool ourselves down. However, with hyperhidrosis, there’s an increased production of sweat beyond that required for simply cooling the body. It’s the “excessive” part of the definition that’s important. But how can you tell if you have hyperhidrosis, or just sweat a bit more than the average person? Check out the blog post “Do I have hyperhidrosis? Am I hyperhidrotic?” for the answer.
We advise that, before getting surgery or taking any medication, anyone thinking about getting treatment for uncontrollable sweating should consider natural treatments and remedies first. We recommend the ebook, “Stop Sweating and Start Living” by Mike Ramsay as a introduction to hyperhidrosis and what you can do to control your sweating naturally and cheaply.