Sweating is a way to cool the body down. It’s normal to sweat when you feel hot, anxious or do exercise. You may find you sweat in unusual situations e.g. in cooler weather, or without any trigger at all.

There are 3 types and causes of excessive sweating:

• Primary focal hyperhidrosis – occurs around the palms, hands, soles of the feet or both armpits, the rest of the body sweats as normal. The exact cause isn’t known but in some people it runs in their family. You don’t usually need to have any tests with this, a GP may suggest some treatment options if antiperspirant doesn’t work.

• Secondary generalised hyperhidrosis – occurs all over the body. It’s less common than primary focal hyperhidrosis and is usually due a side effect of medication or to an underlying medical condition such as:
  • Infections
  • Hormone imbalances e.g. menopause
  • Anxiety disorders
  • Some heart problems
  • Certain cancers

• Secondary focal hyperhidrosis – this is much rarer.  The sweating occurs in one particular place of the body caused by an underlying condition e.g. gustatory sweating (after eating) in diabetes.

For secondary hyperhidrosis the GP is likely to carry out some tests to find out the cause.