Nobody wants to talk about excessive sweating or sweaty underarms, although it's a common problem for a lot of people. It's a visual embarrassment and also a smelly concern! Sweating is one of the ways we regulate our body temperature, and sweating also keeps our skin moist. If you suffer from excessive sweating, it's not because you have too many sweat glands, it's because of the nerve cell activity of those glands. There are two types of sweat glands, apoccrine and eccrine glands.
Not surprisingly, at least 1% of the population suffers from excessive sweating, especially excessive underarm sweating. Everybody sweats more when they are hot or nervous, but excessive sweating may be partly due to our genes. It's important to control excessive sweating, and there are many different opinions and views on how to achieve this. If you suffer from excessive sweating, you've
probably already tried the commercial antiperspirants and deodorants, and you're still looking for a cure for your problem.
Diet control alone will not cure excessive sweating, but can help reduce it somewhat. Certain foods, such as onions, fish, garlic, and spicy foods like curry, can be smelled in the sweat. Try to reduce your intake of these types of foods.
Underarm hair holds sweat and can make the problem worse. If possible, shave your armpits to reduce the bacteria build-up.
There are other expensive and more painful cures available, such as Botox injections given in very small doses into the skin which can stop excessive sweating for 2-8 months. However, Botox is a poison, and it's natural to have concerns about the long term effects of such treatment.
As a last resort, surgery is often considered, where the sympathetic nerves that control sweating are cut. This type of operation requires general anesthesia, and is not guaranteed to work. The success rate is approximately 30%. Underarm skin can be removed and can be quite effective, but this is not a common operation due to the scarring and is not encouraged or performed very often.
Natural ways to cure excessive sweating are by far the easiest and cheapest way to control the problem. It's definitely safer to try diet control and natural remedies first.