Stop Head Sweating, How to Stop Head Sweating

One of the ways the body regulates it’s internal temperature is through sweating, but some people can suffer from excessive sweating, a condition called hyperhidrosis, which can be very unpleasant. Excessive sweating from the face, scalp and neck can be particularly embarrassing, as sweat can literally drip off these areas, drenching the skin, hair, and necklines of clothes. This can exacerbate any other existing conditions such as dandruff, eczema or acne. Excessive head sweating can also make it very difficult for women to wear makeup, or use hair products and there are some significant psychological symptoms of hyperhidrosis, which include social awkwardness, anxiety and even depression.

One of the reasons for excessive sweating in specific areas is thought to be genetic. Some people seem to be predisposed to over activity in the sympathetic nerves that regulate sweat glands, which means that they can sweat more often, and more heavily than is physically needed. Often people who suffer from excessive sweating in the head area also can suffer from excessive blushing, where they blush more intensely and for far longer than normal. This is usually accompanied by a feeling of heat, and although it can be triggered by stressful or emotionally disturbing situations, excessive blushing can also occur when the sufferer is completely relaxed.

Occasionally an underlying medical condition such as such as an overactive thyroid gland can cause excessive head sweating, and also this can be a side effect of some medications such as antibiotics and antidepressant drugs. Also smoking, some spicy foods, coffee and general stress have been linked as triggers to all kinds of hyperhidrosis.

Treating excessive head sweating can be difficult, as first step treatments such as strong antiperspirants containing aluminum chloride are not appropriate for use on the scalp and neck. You can use these products to some degree on the face, and they must be applied at night to clean and dry skin, but they can cause extreme irritation and dryness, especially to the eye, nose and mouth areas.

Botox injections are often used to treat other areas of hyperhidrosis, such as the feet and armpits, but they are not appropriate treatments for the scalp and neck. You can use Botox successfully on the face, but as with using this treatment for cosmetic purposes, it can cause significant weakness or paralysis to the multitude of tiny muscles in the face, causing a slightly frozen look to the facial features. This can also be a very expensive treatment, as it will need to repeated every 4-8 months to remain effective and you can need quite a number of injections to fully numb the sweat glands to prevent them for excreting excessive sweat.

There is a surgical procedure that can be helpful in treating excessive head sweating, called endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS). This is a relatively straightforward procedure that involves a small incision into the chest area, through which the nerves responsible for over stimulating sweating are either clamped or severed. This procedure is carried out under a general anaesthetic and usually only takes around an hour. Patients should be able to return home that day, and be back to work within a week. There are some risks to ETS, the most common being compensatory sweating, which normally occurs in back, stomach or thighs areas. Also as the nerve functions are very complicated and often overlap there is also a risk of slight nerve damage to other areas of the body, which can result in problems like Horner’s Syndrome. This is when the nerves to the face are damaged and can result in drooping eyelids, pupil problems and permanently dry eyes. As with any operation there is also a small chance of recurrence, and nerve endings may re-grow, or find new pathways to connect, meaning that there is a small chance of excessive head sweating reoccurring. Your surgeon will be able to advise you whether a follow up procedure is possible to correct this.