Control Underarm Sweat

April 24, 2008

Odor Control

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by Jed Elaine

Underarms are seldom discussed but that doesn’t mean they’re often neglected. Look around at the women folk and you’ll notice that a majority of them have shaven underarms. That’s underarm care within women on display right there. Men too are catching on and many a scent on them indeed emanates from their underarm deodorant.

Underarms are a sweaty business. As such, they entail high maintenance and can be prone to hygiene or medical problems if they are not accorded with proper care. The underarm regions are endowed with high concentration of sweat glands (both eccrine and apocrine) and hair follicles and can easily get messy through their routine functions.

The basic functions of Underarm Sweat are cooling and lubrication. When sweat evaporates from the underarms, the process absorbs heat from the surrounding area thereby reducing the temperature. In wetting the surface between the arms and the body during locomotion, underarm sweat reduces the friction generated from the inherent rubbing. A component of underarm sweat (aprocrine) in conjunction with hair follicles is also secreted when the person is under stress, anxiety or duress. This type of sweat has a milky appearance and a foul odor develops when it comes into contact with bacteria.

The generation of Underarm Sweat is thus normal and necessary when it’s in good working order. It’s only a problem when there’s excessive (Axillary Hyperhidrosis) or inadequate (Axillary Anhydrosis) underarm sweat. Between the two extremes, Axillary Anhydrosis is far more serious as apart from the resultant discomfort, it is also potentially life-threatening.

Excessive Underarm Sweat is a lot more common and affects millions of Americans. It is estimated that 1% of people has this condition in varying degrees. It can be quite mild and some sufferers are actually oblivious to their problem with underarm sweat. On the other hand, it can also be quite serious, especially when it’s accompanied by excessive sweat in other parts of the body like the hands (Palmar), feet (Plantar) and face (Facial).

There are two categories of Excessive Underarm Sweat. The first category is Primary Axillary Hyperhidrosis and the second one is Secondary Hyperhidrosis. The former is direct and straightforward in both effect and treatment while the latter is as depicted by name related to another underlying medical problem. Having that said, it’s not necessarily sticky as when the root cause such as diabetes, thyroid and so forth is eradicated, the associated Secondary Excessive Underarm Sweat will recede in tandem.

Like other diseases or illnesses, prevention is better than cure and healthy basics go a long way in providing a sound platform in combating underarm sweat problems. A good diet, exercise and habit routine will keep you in good stead with your underarm sweat. We can’t do without underarm sweat, but we can’t do with too much of it either.

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