Why Do We Sweat and Perspire

What is sweat? We know it when we feel it. Sweating, also known as perspiration, is that damp, sticky, clammy feeling on our skin when it’s hot outside or when working out.

There is a lot about sweating that you probably don’t know. You have between 2 to 4 million sweat glands and even when you are unaware of it, your body is sweating just a little.

Heat is probably the best-known cause of sweating.  Every time the thermometer soars you know you’ll be struggling with huge temperatures, and the first line of defence against heat is sweat.

The purpose of sweat is to keep our bodies from overheating. The scientific term for this is thermoregulation.

Evaporation

Evaporation is the key to sweat’s cooling power. When a liquid becomes a gas, it evaporates. Sweat uses some of the heat from our bodies to change from a liquid to a gas and as it evaporates it reduces our body temperature. Sweating is basically how your body cools down.

We don’t sweat as much on humid days as the air is already full of moisture making it more difficult to perspire, that’s why humid weather always feels hotter.

We sweat out a maximum of 1.5 litres every hour under normal circumstances but in very hot humid places this can increase to as much as 3.5 litres per hour. Drinking enough water is important to your health especially if you sweat that intensely.

Running out of perspiration when you need it can be hazardous to your health. You need to only loose around 2% of your body fluid before signs of heat exhaustion sets in. When your core temperature rises above 103 degrees it will be fatal.

Anger

Excessive anger can make your skin drip. Anger triggers your stress response, known as “fight or flight.” The hormones your body releases will cause your heart rate to quicken your breathing to deepen, leaving you dripping with perspiration. When you get extremely angry, try and find a quiet place where you can calm your temper, breathe deeply and work through your feelings.

Exercise

Exercise is great for our health, but can causes sweating as our bodies heat up quickly when working out. There are two reasons why your body heats up quickly.

Firstly, contracting your muscles requires a chemical reaction, and not all of the energy to contract a muscle is actually used to pull that muscle, the rest of it escapes as body heat.

Secondly, the reason we get hot when we exercise is because of the heat generated by chemical reactions that includes your aerobic metabolism. Aerobic metabolism is what happens when your body burns fats, sugars, proteins and oxygen.

As we put our bodies through the motions of exercise, sweating is what keeps us from overheating. Make sure to drink plenty of water to keep hydrated.

Stress & Anxiety

Stress and Anxiety will also trigger your “fight or flight” response, which will make your skin suddenly moist. Anxiety is inevitable, but when prolonged or even chronic, it’s time to take measures to reduce your anxiety.

Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating and can happen to anyone who has a fever or dealing with a bout of anxiety. For some people hyperhidrosis is ongoing and chronic and unrelated to the usual factors that lead to sweating.

The best treatment for hyperhidrosis is strong prescription antiperspirant. There are various other medical treatments that can be used based on the circumstances of the patient.

Some treatments are oral medicines, surgery on the nerves of the sweat glands, injections of botulinum toxin and psychological counselling to reduce anxiety.

Menopause

The one symptom of menopause is excessive perspiration. Menopause plays tricks on your hypothalamus which is embedded deep inside the brain.

The hypothalamus controls various things but the most important functions is controlling body temperature. Sweating is the natural result of hot flashes and about 80% of menopausal women will experience them.

Sweating can also be a symptom of several other diseases like, angina, heart attacks, overactive thyroid, diabetes, and infections. If you sweat excessively there might be a medical problem and it’s time to contact your doctor.

Try and stay cool by sleeping with your windows open or use a fan to cool you down at night, drink plenty of water to avoid dehydration.