Question: My 15-year-old daughter is really embarrassed by excessive sweating. The affected areas seem to be just her hands and feet, which she’s very self-conscious about when hanging out with friends and playing sports. She showers and washes her hands regularly.
I know you can get botox for sweating but is she too young for this? What else can we do? Dr Grant replies: Excessive sweating from areas on the body where sweat glands occur is known as hyperhidrosis and is thought that about 1pc of the population suffer moderate to severe forms. It can cause significant psychosocial distress but rarely has an underlying medical condition to explain the sweating episodes. It is called focal hyperhidrosis when it affects the armpits, palms of the hand, soles of the feet or less commonly the face, scalp, groin region or under the breasts.
It commonly begins in childhood or adolescence and tends to run a chronic lifelong course but in a few people symptoms can resolve spontaneously over time. Classic features include age of onset typically under 25 years old, often with a family history, affecting both sides of the body equally (e.g.
both hands) and symptoms do not occur at night. Read more Generalised hyperhidrosis affects the whole body and can occur both during the day and at night. This form of the condition is rarer and can have underlying medical explanations such as chronic infection, thyroid/endocrine and other disorders need be ruled out.
Most people presenting to a doc.