Recent News and Articles on the Keywords: health + sweating + excessive  Related to the article below (Last Update: 8/5/2008)

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Is my son's excessive sweating a risk to his health?

 Your son's sweating may be within normal limits for his age as young children can become quite sweaty when they exercise.

If your son's sweating is beyond what he needs to cool him down when he gets hot it is possible that he is suffering from a  condition called hyperhidrosis.

Although uncommon this condition can be congenital i.e. present from birth, and so can become obvious in childhood. Most adult patients with the condition have suffered with excessive sweating for many years. Many can go untreated for years because their doctor may be unaware of the diagnosis.

The sweat glands are triggered to produce sweat by the sympathetic nervous system which appears to be too active in hyperhidrosis. This can be as a result of taking certain drugs.

However as I assume your son is not receiving any medication his hyperhidrosis would  be more likely to be either congenital or idioopathic, with no known cause.

Rarely excessive sweating can be a sign of underlying illness such as cystic fibrosis or heart disease or a metabolic problem such as an overactive thyroid gland, in which case your son would probably have additional symptoms of poor health.

You mention that your son's sweat is very salty. Most sweat is salty but children with cystic fibrosis produce saltier sweat than usual.

Your first step is to ask your GP to examine your son. If he has poor growth, recurrent chest infections, signs of heart disease or diarrhoea your son will need to see a paediatrician.

Cystic fibrosis can be easily detected using a 'sweat test' in which the salt content of your son's sweat is measured. This can be arranged by the paediatrician.

If your son is fit and healthy. and growing normally, he is unlikely to be suffering from an underlying cause for excessive sweating. It may be reasonable to watch him over the next year or two to see if his sweating calms down or becomes worse.

Hyperhidrosis can be limited to the face (craniofacial hyperhidrosis), the hands (palmar hyperhidrosis), the underarms (auxillary hyperhidrosis), the feet (plantar hyperhidrosis) or it may be generalized throughout the body.

Whether localized to one part of the body or affecting the whole body if it persists into later childhood and adult life it can be socially embarrassing and disabling, making certain tasks or activities almost impossible and significantly affect quality of life.

If your son does have facial hyperhidrosis he may seek treatment when he is older. Drugs, antiperspirant agents, botulinum toxin injections - Botox - and electrical therapies (iontophoresis) can be helpful for certain types of hyperhidrosis.

But the only currently effective treatment for facial hyperhidrosis is endoscopic trans-thoracic sympathectomy (ETS).

A 5mm endoscope probe is inserted into the chest through a small incision in each armpit and the relevant sympathetic nerves are cut. This is performed under general anaesthetic.

It is rarely done in childhood but is an effective treatment in adolescence or adulthood which are the ages when this condition is most disabling.

We recommend readers seek personal medical attention in appropriate circumstances.