In this episode, you will learn about excessive sweating and natural help for hyperhidrosis. This is one of those problems, that unless you are experiencing it, you really can’t understand how severe it is. Ever heard of hyperhidrosis? In short, it is excessive, and I mean like a faucet sweating, of a body part.
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Excessive Sweating: Natural Help for Hypderhidrosis
What is hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis is one of those things that unless you are experiencing it, you really can’t understand how severe it is. Ever heard of hyperhidrosis? In short, it is excessive, and I mean like turning on a faucet excessive, sweating of a body part.
Sometimes this sweating is confined to a specific and sometimes unusual body part, and sometimes it is full body sweating. Sometimes it shows up anytime, and sometimes there is a cause (even night sweats can be termed hyperhidrosis.)
This condition can be caused by a mild nervous system dysfunction or sometimes it is a secondary condition of an underlying chronic issue, like diabetes, menopause, Parkinson’s disease, certain medications, certain cancers, or hyperthyroidism—lots of different things can lead to excessive sweating. Other causes can include, just to exhaust the list:
- Candida Abundance
- Obesity
- Pregnancy
- Anxiety
- Hypoglycemia
- Certain illegal drugs or withdrawals from drugs or alcohol
- Tuberculosis
- HIV
- Tobacco
- Gout
- Mercury poisoning
- Lymphatic Infection
- Endocrine Infection
Conventional Hyperhidrosis Treatments
Traditional interventions are generally bandaid symptom maskings and treatment of the underlying condition when possible. Frankly, western medicine is good at applying a medication or treatment to a set of symptoms rather than finding the cause and fix it at the root.
If you have ever seen the word “idiopathic” in front of a diagnosis, then that means the physician didn’t know the cause. It translates to laymen terms as “unknown.” So “idiopathic hyperhidrosis” would be excessive sweating of an unknown cause.
The types of treatments that are typically available in allopathic medicine are:
- Heavy Duty Antiperspirants. Often prescription grade aluminum chloride, also known as a prescription “deodorant” in the form of a solution placed on the palms of the hands, soles of the feet, underarms, and around the hairline. This works by absorption of the active ingredients and plugging up the sweat glands.
As we know, aluminum in our deodorants that are regular strength are linked to breast cancer and Alzheimer's disease, can you imagine amping it up to prescription strength? This doesn’t fix the problem, only masks it. - Iontophoresis. Basically, it's a gentle electric shock. This treatment is given a few times a week, then weekly, and in some cases can be spread out to one time per month. This treatment doesn’t work well, but when it does, often a home unit is purchased so the treatments can be done at home.
- Botox injections. Man, does this get expensive! There’s not a discount just because you aren’t using it for your facial wrinkles. Botox treatments for hyperhidrosis often require a LOT of botox. Botox works for wrinkles by paralyzing the muscles of the face, in hyperhidrosis patients, there is a risk of pretty significant muscle weakness depending on where the trouble is.
- Oral Medication. There are some oral medications available via prescription, but they work by preventing sweat. As you may know, sweating is important for temperature regulation in the body and for detoxification. So when you take a pill to stop it, it stops it in the whole body and problems develop.
- Surgery. There is a surgery that severs the small nerves to the sweaty area. Interestingly, I have seen clients that have had this surgery and it works for the area intended BUT the tricky human suit creates a new spot that sweats. For one client who came to me after surgery for hyperhidrosis of her feet, her feet didn’t sweat at all anymore. Would seem like a success, yeah? Only her left flank just poured sweat now.
So which of these do I recommend? None of them.
What can we do naturally for hyperhidrosis?
This is a very broad topic because it depends on the cause. You know that massive list of causes I listed at the top of the episode/post...yeah the natural fixes, the healing from the roots up, is just as diverse. Here is some general groundwork that benefits everyone with this trouble:
- Nutrition is important. Give your body the nourishment it needs to heal. Get rid of the processed foods, feed your body organic vegetables and fruits, and meats from well-fed and well-cared for animals. Aim for about 80% plant-based. This is the short and sweet DIY version, if you are suffering from hyperhidrosis we would do the full 5Rs to get your body detoxed and back on track. The 5Rs are Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair, and Rebalance, when you apply this to your nutrition, you apply this to your gut and experience healing.
- Acupressure. Sometimes called the Adjoining Valley, the pressure point 4 on the Liver Meridian can be beneficial when hyperhidrosis begins. Look at your left-hand palm faced down, begin to lightly squeeze your thumb and index finger together. A little bump or mound pops up in the webbing between the base of the index finger and thumb. Once you find this spot, relax your left hand, and using your right thumb and index finger, press on this point and give it a pretty good massage.This is demo'd in this video here (move to about the 10:00 minute mark):
- Herbal help. Herbs can help! But be wary - as they aren’t a cure - only a bandaid. They are better in that they do help to strengthen rather than deplete the body like conventional medication. The two herbs that have the most impact are Schisandra and Black Cohosh.
- Nervous system support with essential oils. One of my favorites for this is Surrender. It is calming and balancing to the emotions and clearing the mind. It’s a blend of Lavender, Roman and German Chamomile, Angelica, and Mountain Savory. If you would like more info on how to incorporate Essential Oils in your Home - Check out Essential Oils 101.
- Crystal therapy. I like to recommend pink crystals for hyperhidrosis because the nerve ganglia can be traced back to the heart region which is commonly associated with pink crystals and because the minor chakras are often associated with the color pink.
- Stress Reduction. Reducing your stress levels is as important to your health as nutrition and movement. Even spending just a few minutes of your day dedicated to stress relief can make a difference a big difference, even for hyperhidrosis. Try a one-minute meditation to reduce your stress instantly (you can grab the free meditation guide here).
Which of these is most beneficial? I would say nutrition, but they are all part of a sound holistic plan.
So let’s do a quick recap.
To wrap this up, let's go over what you can do to get on the healing path and find natural help for hyperhidrosis:
- Nutrition is key. Work to Remove, Replace, Reinoculate, Repair, and Rebalance the gut and ultimately the body. This starts with the nourishment you provide your body every day.
- Use acupressure techniques to assist the meridians in flowing energy properly.
- Herbs can help. Schisandra most commonly and Black Cohosh can be helpful depending on the cause.
- Support the body with essential oils, like Surrender (a blend of Lavender, Roman and German Chamomile), Angelica, and Mountain Savory by Young Living.
- Incorporate crystal therapy either for yourself or with a Certified Crystal Healer to help entrain the body’s energies and auric field.
- Reduce your stress, starting in 1-minute bursts if needed.
You don’t have to subject yourself to injections, surgery, or shock treatment to work through hyperhidrosis. Improve your wellness from the roots up and the inside out.
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Be well!