Excessive sweating is bifurcated into two main categories. These are primary focal excessive sweating and secondary generalized excessive sweating. To know which of these categories you fall into, it is important to understand the difference between these types.
What is primary focal excessive sweating?
This type of condition is not due to any existing medical condition, or an adverse effect of any medication. Primary hyperhidrosis is a medical condition where sweating happens in various regions of the body that includes underarms, face, hands, and head.
When does it occur in a person?
Primary focal excessive sweating ailment mostly starts in adolescence or childhood. The areas that are highly prone to this condition are feet and hands of a person. People who have primary focal excessive sweating experiences it a minimum of once a week. They mostly don’t feel this discomfort when they are asleep.
What is the cause for its occurrence?
Primary focal excessive sweating can be genetic. If several people of the same family suffer from this problem, then there are maximum chances for the person to inherit it. If this type of excessive sweating “run” in a family, then it is advisable to reach out to an expert to get more cure about it.
Cure
When you identify any visible excessive sweat for a minimum of 6 months without any apparent reason, then check if you meet a minimum of two criteria mentioned below:
- Your sweat is symmetrical and bilateral. This implies that the person sweats in the same manner on both areas of the body.
- Your excess sweat hampers your day to day activities.
- You experience a minimum of such episode in a week.
- You experience excessive sweating quite earlier, i.e., before the age of 25 years.
- You have got a positive family history wherein several members in your family suffers from this problem.
- You stop sweating at the time of sleeping.
On meeting atleast 2 criteria, it is important to take assistance of a dermatologist for effective and quick eradication of the problem.
Secondary generalized hyperhidrosis
This is the second kind of excessive sweating wherein it is caused due to another medical state or as an adverse effect of a medicine. Due to this reason, it is called as secondary excessive sweating. Unlike primary excessive sweating, people who suffer from secondary excessive sweating experience excessive sweating on larger body regions.
Another major difference in the two kinds of excessive sweating is that the ones who suffer from secondary generalized excessive sweating experience sweating symptoms even at the time of sleeping. This type of condition begins in adulthood, while primary excessive sweating begins in either puberty or childhood.
Cure
To identify a potential cure for secondary excessive sweating involves determination of medication or underlying medical condition or the root cause of the problem.
Conclusion
Learning about it gives a clear understanding to patients and clinicians about the cause of the disease and its treatment. If you relate yourself to any of the above conditions, then it is important to get expert assistance of a specialized doctor immediately.