Marie Claire Australia — December 2017

PHOTOGRAPHED BY ALEKSANDRA KOVAC/STOCKSY.COM. TEXT BY LIZZIE POOK. ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY HANNA MARTON. *UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN FINLAND.

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I

shower three times a day, wear

only black and avoid slip-on

shoes, because my feet slide

right out of them. Sometimes,

even holding a pen is almost

impossible,” says Kate, 35, an

investment broker who suffers

from hyperhidrosis. Thought to affect

three per cent of the population,

abnormally excessive sweating can

make summer something to dread.

“Work meetings are the worst. Even

with aircon, I have to change several

times a day and I avoid shaking hands

with people,” adds Kate. The problem

is so bad, she has been prescribed

tablets that inhibit the chemicals that

stimulate sweat. “They work if you catch

it in time, but leave me with a dry mouth

and eyes all day.”

In extreme cases of hyperhidrosis –

which is thought to be caused by a

breakdown in the nervous system –

electric-current therapy, surgery and

even Botox can be effective. Botox

paralyses the sweat glands so that the

nerve signals can’t be received. It re-

quires 20 to 30 injections per armpit,

but the effects can last eight months.

Even for the rest of us, who can lose

up to 12 litres per day in per-

spiration caused by anxiety,

diet or hormones, summer can

suck. “Women experience a

spike in body temperature

during ovulation, which leads

to sweating,” says dermatolo-

gist Dr Joanna Gach. She says

female body temperatures also

rise during pregnancy and just

before menstruation. So the

struggle is real.

Perspiring after a

workout is standard.

But sweating from

food, hyperhidrosis or

anxiety can leave an

emotional mark

S W E AT EQ U I T Y

The purpose of sweat isn’t to embarrass us

on dates or in the boardroom, it’s to cool

us down. When your temperature rises, the

thermoregulatory centre in your brain’s

hypothalamus responds by telling the body

to sweat – cooling your jets, so to speak.

So why do some of us have under-

boob sweat that could water plants, while

others stay bone-dry during a heatwave?

“Some people have a naturally higher

distribution of sweat glands,” explains

dermatologist Dr Adam Friedmann. “We

all sweat in different ways and in different

places, according to the genetic distribution

of autonomic nerve fibres.”

Emotional sweating, brought on by

nervousness or anxiety, is typically confined

to palms and the soles of feet, whereas

sweating on your lower back or underarms

is more likely due to exercise or weather.

And those beads of sweat on your nose,

upper lip, scalp and neck after a hot Thai

salad? That’s due to capsaicin – the spicy

chemical in chillies. Experts call it “gustatory

sweating”. Other triggers are citric acid,

coffee, chocolate and peanut butter,

according to dermatologist Dr Justine Kluk.

THE BIG DRY

Want to keep your sweat in check – but it’s

not so bad you need a doctor? Avoid garlic,

cigarettes and alcohol. (That said, a study

published in Appetite found that garlic made

body odour more appealing – in men, anyway.)

Nicotine, however, causes the body to release

acetylcholine, a chemical that stimulates sweat

glands, while alcohol widens blood vessels,

bringing heat to the skin’s surface.

There is an upside to sweat: it’s sexy.

Scientists at Utrecht University in the

Netherlands found evidence to suggest

that humans communicate positive emotions,

such as happiness and attraction, through

pheromones – chemical signals secreted

through sweat glands. Conversely, researchers

at Rice University, Texas, say we can sense fear

in other people’s sweat. Androstadienone,

a derivative of testosterone, can influence

women’s moods and boost sexual arousal,

reports the University of California, Berkeley.

We also use subtle smell cues to help select

sexual partners (subconsciously, we’re looking

for a mate with a different set of immune

system genes to ours). Hence, the global

trend towards pheromone, or “smell”, dating

parties, where women choose a prospective

partner by sniffing men’s well-worn T-shirts.

Now that’s “following your nose”.

Sweating in a sauna

four to seven times

per week could cut

your risk of dementia

by 66 per cent.*

What’s the difference?

Deodorant’s primary focus

is to mask sweat so you smell

fresher, whereas antiperspirants

contain aluminium salt to

actively stop sweat.

Can antiperspirant

block pores?

Antiperspirants that are

aluminium based temporarily

plug pores to nix sweating. That’s

why they work better at night

when sweat production is low,

and the active ingredient has

had time to be absorbed.

Is this dangerous?

No, there is no evidence that

preventing sweat from escaping

pores is harmful. According to

the Cancer Council, toxins are

not released from the body via

sweating but are largely excreted

by the liver and kidneys.

Can antiperspirants

cause cancer?

No. Despite studies into possible

links between aluminium

exposure and breast cancer,

Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s,

these myths have been largely

debunked. The Cancer Council

has definitively said that

deodorant and antiperspirant

do not cause breast cancer.

UNDERARM TACTICS

Deodorant versus

antiperspirant: the facts

WELLNESS