My thoughts on palmar/plantar HH

I thought I'd post my thoughts on HH.

I really dont think that it is because of an 'overactive' nervous system. If that were the case - there would be other symptoms like feeling hot all the time. Before any of you jump in to say that you always feel hot - I have noticed other people who get hot even when I am cool - this just shows that the body can have hot & cold cycles. It does not mean that the body has to sweat excessively from the hands & feet. Also, as you are all well aware, having HH makes one feel hot & sweat in front of people just because we are aware of it.

The other thing that I noticed was that while playing tennis or other sports or working out in the gym, other people sweat more than me - BUT all over their body, whereas my sweating is mainly limited to the hands, feet & armpits. I rarely have to wipe my forehead or neck which is were most other people sweat from - unless it is very very hot.

My conclusion from all of this is that HH is caused not by an overactive nervous system - but rather by an over-concentration of sweat glands (think of it as an unfortunate mal-distribution of sweat glands over the body). That is probably why there is no cure for it, surgical or otherwise. . The body is sweating normal to medium levels (which could also explain CS), it is just that the excretion is highly localized due to over-concentration of sweat glands in a particular area.

Thoughts?

Why would ETS stop palmar sweating, if it isn't somehow related to the nervous system?

When I was younger, I only had hyperhidrosis of the hands. About five years ago, however, my hyperhidrosis began to generalize..and I am now totally intolerant to heat (I was never like this in the past, if anything, like you, I tended to sweat less during workouts, just more on my hands).

I believe its root is in the sympathetic nervous system, not the number of sweat glands.

tbanner523 said:

Why would ETS stop palmar sweating, if it isn't somehow related to the nervous system?

When I was younger, I only had hyperhidrosis of the hands. About five years ago, however, my hyperhidrosis began to generalize..and I am now totally intolerant to heat (I was never like this in the past, if anything, like you, I tended to sweat less during workouts, just more on my hands).

I believe its root is in the sympathetic nervous system, not the number of sweat glands.

Click to expand...

Sweat glands cannot function without input from the nervous system - However, that does not mean that the nervous system is over-active. Perhaps that is why ETS "works". Having said that, in your case as other cases of generalized HH, there could be other factors involved. However, in cases of strictly palmar/plantar/axillary HH, I still lean towards localized concentration of sweat glands.

But what about compensatory sweat after surgery? If the sweat moves to a different part of the body that didn't sweat profusely before, do these new areas now have more sweat glands? Your overactive sympathetic nervous system needs to release heat somehow, and it does so by sweating elsewhere on the body....although, I am not sure what would happen to a normal person if they had ETS.

Also, having an overactive sympathetic nervous system does not necessarily mean you will always "run hot"

I have had numerous blood tests done for "other factors" such as thyroid function, pheochromocytoma, and others, and have always come back with the same diagnosis of hyperhirosis. I also don't think it is totally unheard of for HH to get worse as you age.

I understand that there is no agreement as to what causes HH, and that an overactive sympathetic nervous system is only a theory. However, I don't think there is any evidence that we have more sweat glands....

But if there is, I'll shut up...

And also, women actually have more sweat glands, but sweat less:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003218.htm

tbanner523 said:

And also, women actually have more sweat glands, but sweat less:

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/003218.htm

Click to expand...

Good posts tbanner523, I will need to think about this a little more. However, even with an overactive sympathetic nervous system, I still cant understand why our hands/feet have to sweat rather than the trunk which is where most people sweat even after heavy workouts. (Not talking of generalized HH, only palmar/plantar).

I sweat like anyone else when working out if anything i sweat less from my HH areas when playing sport than I do under say stressful circumstances.