Excessive Sweating in Adolescence

Excessive Sweating in Adolescence Excessive sweating in the hands, face and armpits occurs during adolescence just as it does in adults. Experts emphasize that such conditions negatively affect the psychology of adolescents as much as adults and impede socialization. But is there a solution to excessive sweating? Is excessive sweating surgery a successful method in resolving the problem? What are its advantages and disadvantages? Sweating is one of the body's mechanisms for regulating temperature. Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) turns everyday life, particularly during summer months, into a nightmare. Sweating in the hands, face and armpits negatively affects people's social lives. Experts state that it is possible to significantly prevent excessive sweating. Thoracic Surgery Specialist Prof. Dr. Özkan Demirhan, providing information on surgical approaches to regional excessive sweating treatment in particular, said, "Our field covers hand and armpit sweating and facial flushing problems. Various treatment options are possible for these, but we prevent excessive sweating through surgical methods and our success rate is quite high."

Excessive sweating during adolescence should definitely not be neglected

Addressing the negative effects of excessive sweating during adolescence, Dr. Özkan Demirhan stated: "Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, is a health problem during adolescence that has negative effects on quality of life, daily social activities, school performance and psychological well-being. Hand and armpit hyperhidrosis can manifest as dripping. The most notable issues in examinations are hands in pockets, avoiding handshakes, and wetting of written papers. Physiologically, hand sweating begins after birth, while underarm sweating begins after puberty. Hyperhidrosis during adolescence should not be neglected and appropriate treatment methods should be used. Treatment methods applied in adults have not been clearly defined during adolescence. Surgery can occasionally come up before age 14, but in such cases it is performed on a case-by-case, individualized basis," he said.

It impedes socialization

Noting that excessive sweating negatively affects people's social lives, Prof. Dr. Özkan Demirhan said: "We can recognize a patient presenting with excessive sweating complaints at first encounter. When the physician extends his hand, the patient hesitantly extends theirs. The handshake phase is quite an important stage because during the handshake I am trying to assess the temperature and moisture of the patient's hand. Additionally, the majority of such patients either wipe their hands beforehand or carry tissues with them. For this reason, even when they come to the doctor to solve the issue, we see they are hesitant. Because of this, we also support the view that excessive sweating is a significant barrier to socialization. Excessive sweating occurring in the face and armpits besides the hands also causes problems in social life," he said.

Is excessive sweating a sign of disease?

Thoracic Surgery Specialist Prof. Dr. Özkan Demirhan, noting that excessive sweating is not always a sign of disease but that there are still important tests that should be performed, said: "Sweating in the hands and armpits occurs due to overactivation of the sympathetic system inside the thorax and excessive functioning of sweat glands. For this reason, it is not a sign of disease. However, we pay attention to certain tests for patients. We want all patients to have consulted an endocrinology specialist before coming to us. We want thyroid tests to be done. There are certain metabolic tests, and we check whether these have been performed. If the patient has not had these done, we definitely refer them to the endocrinology or internal medicine clinic, or conversely, if they have been examined, they refer them to us. The first thing we check in the patient is the thyroid. Because overactivity of the thyroid accelerates metabolism and also causes increased sweating. We inquire whether there is a history of excessive sweating in the patient's family, whether there is sweating during sleep, whether sweating occurs on both sides, the region they live in, the temperature of their work environment, and clothing habits. After questioning all of these, thoracic surgery comes into play to make a decision regarding surgical intervention in appropriate patients," he said.

Those seeking permanent solutions opt for surgery

Reminding us that there are many alternatives among treatments for excessive sweating, Demirhan said: "There are various creams, iontophoresis and medications, botox applications. However, all of these offer temporary solutions. Surgeries offer permanent solutions at high rates, but we cannot say these surgeries are completely risk-free. It is very important that the patient is informed of all details of the surgery. What are these details? There are certain anatomical structures in the thorax. There are places where nerves leading to the hands, armpits and face pass through. With a small incision through a single opening, we disable the nerves in the thorax that cause sweating. However, the places where surgery is performed are somewhat sensitive areas. It needs to be performed by experienced surgeons. Care must be taken to work in the area affecting the eyelid and eye nerve. An error here can cause eyelid ptosis. Therefore, we cannot call these surgeries completely risk-free either. There is a small but possible risk of complications. We perform it under general anesthesia and that area will not sweat again. This surgery has a side effect that patients need to know well. The places in the body stimulated by the sympathetic system that exists are specific. The more unnecessary sympathetic nerve ablation performed, the more reactions sweating (compensatory sweating) we call occurs in the body. If you completely eliminate sweating in the armpits and hands, excessive sweating then begins in the abdomen, buttocks or legs. This is a rare complication but should be known. To avoid encountering this complication, we do not perform unnecessary sympathetic nerve ablation in surgery. We reduce armpit, hand or facial flushing by approximately 90 percent and leave the patient with some sweating. This also prevents the risk of the complication I mentioned earlier," he said.