While small bubbles of sweat are normal to appear on your forehead when you are very hot or when you go through strong emotions, profuse sweating from your forehead is not normal and it’s not something you should live with either. Forehead sweat is the most disturbing form of hyperhidrosis, a medical condition that can cause excessive sweating in different body parts. Sweating on the forehead is highly visible and it can be hidden successfully. It mainly hits when you are anxious and it creates a vicious circle: the more you sweat, the anxious you become and as anxiety increases, sweat increases also. It’s frustrating and it can ruin relationships or meetings.
Why Is Forehead Sweat Appearing?
When the sympathetic nervous system sends signals to the sweat glands, sweat occurs. As long as the nervous system works normally, people only sweat within normal limits or in normal circumstances. However, when these signals get messed up and they are sent repeatedly and, sometimes, without a reason, hyperhidrosis occurs. The activity of the sympathetic nervous system can be influenced by a malfunctioning of the hypothalamus. Other causes for forehead sweat include thyroid disorders, hormonal imbalances, prescribed pills or some medical conditions. Obesity is one of the diseases that can lead to forehead sweat, but this does not mean (as many people tend to believe) that hyperhidrosis can’t affect people who have a normal weight.
How to Cope with Forehead Sweat
Fortunately, if the condition is mild, sufferers might not need any medical treatment and can learn to hide it. There is nothing shameful in being affected by forehead sweat and if the problem is not very serious, keeping a handkerchief or a tissue at hand at all times might help you make it less visible. If you sweat more profusely when it’s hot, keep a small fan on your working table or desk. It will keep you cool and prevent excessive sweating. In people who simply can’t control their anxiety and experience serious forehead sweats, counseling might be a good option. A therapist can teach them how to control their emotions and how to keep the level of anxiety down before important events, meetings or before speaking in public.
Hyperhydrosis is usually kept under control with the help of antiperspirants. These contain aluminum chloride and inhibit the activity of sweat glands. They work perfectly for the armpits, but antiperspirants can’t be applied on the forehead. However, solutions containing aluminum chloride also exist in roll-on containers and they might work for forehead sweat. The product needs to be applied carefully (avoiding contact with the eyes) on the forehead at night and washed away in the morning. The skin needs to be clean and dry. An excessive amount of aluminum chloride can irritate the skin, so there is no need for a thick layer to be applied.
If hyperhidrosis is interfering with the possibility of living a normal life, discuss various treatment options with your health care provider. As mentioned, this is not supposed to be an embarrassing condition and there is no reason why you shouldn’t ask your doctor what to do. Usually, even though extreme approaches are sometime used for dealing with excessive sweat, it is unlikely for the doctor to recommend them unless all the other options have been explored and proved ineffective.
So why would you prolong your misery? We strongly recommend the following FDA approved antiperspirant wipes to block your sweating problems: