The skin is the largest organ of the body. Furthermore, it also serves an important role just like any other organs in the body. For instance, sweating is beneficial for the body’s maintaining of proper temperature and keep you from feverishness. Moreover, it is also beneficial in expelling toxins, which supports the proper immune function and help in the prevention of diseases that are related to the overload of toxic. However, there are some conditions that may hinder sweating, one is hypohidrosis. Hypohidrosis is a condition wherein a person is not able to sweat normally. This condition is not easy to diagnose and is quite sudden. Thus, it is important to have enough knowledge about the causes, symptoms, as well as the treatments for hypohidrosis. If you want to know these and more, feel free to read on to this article.
Hypohidrosis: What is this condition?
Hypohidrosis or what we also call Anhidrosis is the condition of the body, which is commonly characterized by the inability of the body to sweat properly. This may lead to the body, withholding the bodily fluids, which it usually eliminate by way of perspiration. Furthermore, this also means that the toxins in the body that are eliminated usually via sweating are not capable of leaving the body. This can be a dangerous situation, thus ignoring it is a no-no.
Moreover, sweating is also an essential process of the body, which enables us to cool our bodies. When the bodies are not able to regulate the internal temperature of this particular way, it may lead to overheating. There are times that this results in heat exhaustion or heat stroke. And we know that heat stroke is a condition that is no joke, as this can possibly become a deadly condition. This is why Anhidrosis or hypohidrosis must be taken in a very serious manner.
Occasionally, hypohidrosis may just affect a particular part of the body. This is not that dangerous, since the sweat may leave the body in some other parts of the body. However, this must still be taken seriously because the condition may get worse to more dangerous levels. If the entire body is not able to sweat, then your life may be at risk or worse, you’re in a life-threatening situation.
Symptoms of Hypohidrosis or Anhidrosis
The most common symptoms of Anhidrosis include:
- Feeling hot
- Flushing
- Weakness
- Dizziness due to the overheating of the body
- Lack or less sweating in response to heat
The absence of sweating can be localized, generalized, or can be seen is various patches. Some areas that sweat tries to recompense for the lack of sweating in various parts of the body. Therefore, some bodily parts sweat copiously unlike the others. The generalized hypohidrosis affects most of the parts of the body.
When the body fails to cool in a proper manner, it may lead to heat stroke and heat exhaustion. Principally, after doing some physical exertion or as a response to hot weather. The hypohidrosis may develop as an illness on its own or it may be associated with some other conditions like skin injury and diabetes.
Causes of Hypohidrosis or Anhidrosis
The condition occurs when the sweat glands in the body don’t work properly at all.
Here are some possible reasons for this:
- Clogged sweat gland ducts because of bacterial infections or dead skin
- Scleroderma or systematic sclerosis. This progressive autoimmune diseases may cause the skin to tighten and let harden.
- Trauma to the sweat glands.
- Skin damage or skin conditions, including leprosy and severe burns.
- Horner syndrome, which is caused by a damage to the sympathetic nervous system in the neck.
- Lung cancer, which may cause hypohidrosis on one side of the body.
- Sjorgren’s syndrome, this chronic disorder of the immune system may affect the proper functioning of the sweat glands, leading to hypohidrosis.
- Trauma to the nerves that control the sweating.
Risk Factors for Hypohidrosis
Apart from older age, there are some more factors that may increase the risk of Anhidrosis. This includes the following:
- Skin conditions, like psoriasis and various types of rashes.
- Diabetes, which may affect the sweat glands.
- Genetic mutations, which, ay change the genes and may cause some abnormalities, thus leading to improper functioning of the sweat glands.
Treatments for Hypohidrosis or Anhidrosis
If you already have started experiencing various symptoms of heat exhaustion, you may try to find a much cooler location as long as it is possible. For an instance, you are outside, you must look for a shady area. Furthermore, you might also want to lie down, if this is not possible for you to do, then try to stop doing any strenuous activities. This will e beneficial in regulating your body temperature.
There are some home treatments for hypohidrosis that can be beneficial in treating the condition, here are the three of them:
- Cucumber juice: this may improve the sweat production, thus increasing the hydration.
- Baking soda: this is beneficial in increasing a person’s ability to sweat by way of increasing the capillary flow. This is one of the easiest to find home treatments for hypohidrosis.
- Soybean and ginger supplements: adding these to the diet plan may help in improving the blood flow as well as promote the proper perspiration.
