Sweating: An expert explains the why and best ways to deal with it

Between the stress of the holidays and the mild temperatures so far this winter, I’m going to guess I’m not the only one reaching for my antiperspirant more than usual.

While most of us know that heat, exercise and stress can bring on the sweats, I wanted to understand more so I reached out to Kati Bakes, a research and development scientist for Secret antiperspirant, to get the lowdown on what is actually happening in our bodies when we sweat – and how we can keep the situation under control.

So, why do we sweat?

There are actually three causes of sweat: heat, activity and stress. We have about 5 million sweat glands all over our body, with the highest concentration actually being on our feet.

Why do some people sweat more than others?

We sweat to regulate our body temperature, but some life changes such as pregnancy or menopause can create excessive sweating. Other times, people can experience excessive sweating without life changes. This is called hyperhidrosis.

How do you treat hyperhidrosis?

Hyperhidrosis is common and there are many treatment options. If you’re looking for something over the counter, Secret Clinical Strength provides prescription strength wetness protection without the prescription, using quadruple-layer technology which works together to decrease excessive sweating.

Do sweat patterns change with age?

Yes, they can. One of the most interesting things is that stress sweat doesn’t start until puberty. Stress sweat – which is also responsible for the worst odour – is activated through the apocrine gland. The apocrine gland isn’t “turned on” until puberty, which is why teenagers can suddenly start to smell pretty bad!

So where does stress factor in?

Stress sweat is unique because it comes from a different gland - the apocrine gland, which releases about 80 per cent water and about 20 oer cent of lipids and proteins. Those apocrine glands are mostly concentrated in your underarms, as well as minimally in your groin and (oddly) also in your inner ear.

The 20 per cent lipids and proteins released in stress sweat act as “food” for the bacteria that naturally live on your skin, which in turn is what causes the spike in odour, making stress sweat the worst smelling type of sweat.

Stress sweat seems to be an evolutionary phenomenon. When you get stressed, several things happen. Your heart rate increases and your skin temperature decreases.

Research suggests that there’s an evolutionary role in why we emit odours when we’re stressed. It’s believed to be used, in part, to alert others to danger. Imagine being chased by a lion. Smelling bad might help to avoid getting eaten, as well as alert your friends to run, too!

What are some of the triggers of stress sweat?

What is really surprising is that your usual day-to-day activities can trigger stress sweat in cases that you might not expect.

Secret partnered with Innerscope Research to study the triggers of what makes women sweat. We followed 80 women for the day and measured their skin sweat rate, heart rate and skin temperature and found that stress sweat can take you by surprise.

Here are some of the sweat moments we were surprised to find:

• Some women have higher sweat rates in big work meetings than while exercising.
  

• Some women’s sweat rates spike when they’re out for happy hour.
  

• One woman had a higher sweat response while she was working on her wedding seating chart than while meeting with her grad school advisor.
  

• Many women had a sweat spike when they started to prepare a meal for their children at home.
  

• Working moms had a higher sweat rate at home than while they are at the office.

Reading this is stressing me out! What do we do?

There are three things you can do: reduce the bacteria, reduce sweat and release fragrance.

Trying to manage our stress levels overall is very important. You may not know it, but sweat can become a vicious cycle. Once you start stress sweating, you sense and smell the stress sweat and that stresses you out further, and can cause more stress sweat. Others can sense your stress sweat as well, which does make it contagious, causing others to stress sweat themselves. So it’s important to try to keep calm, and help prevent the odour by using great products.

Good hygiene is also key. Make sure to clean your underarms with soap and make sure your clothes are clean as well. This will help to ensure that you start with a “clean slate” and that there is no leftover bacteria or sweat components.

What about sweat that isn’t stress related?

When your body is overheated, your skin and/or core body thermo-receptors will sense a temperature shift and respond by sending a signal to the hypothalamus. When the hypothalamus realizes that the body’s temperature is too hot, it will slow down blood flow, reduce its metabolic rate, and begin to sweat. Sweat decreases the temperature of the body.

Heat and activity sweat comes from the eccrine gland, which releases about 99 per cent water and only about 1 per cent proteins and lipids, which is why it doesn’t smell as bad as stress sweat.

Is it possible to sweat too much?

We are designed to sweat – in fact the average human being sweats around 278 gallons a year.

If you’re worried you might have hyperhidrosis (or excessive sweating), it’s important to see your doctor. In most cases, excessive sweating is just that, sweating, but sometimes it can be a symptom of something more serious.

What makes a good antiperspirant?

An effective antiperspirant offers the following:

• Odour and wetness protection

• A good scent that signals odour protection

• Great feel on skin and ease of application

• No residue – to protect your clothes

What about the dangers of antiperspirants containing aluminum?

Aluminum salts are often used as an active ingredient in many antiperspirants. According to the FDA, there is no consequence. Aluminum salts reduce sweat by plugging the sweat duct in contrast to deodorants, which do not contain aluminum salts, and do not help to reduce sweat levels.

What else should we know about antiperspirants?

When choosing an antiperspirant, you should consider these three things: protection level, form type and scent technology.

• Protection level: There are some really neat technologies that enable clinical levels of protection. For example, Secret’s surfactant technology delivers clinical levels of sweat protection. The surfactant acts as a bridge to help connect the sweat to the active to help the active get out of the product and down to the skin. Products are clinically tested in a hot room as a torture test to measure and demonstrate protection.
  

• Form type: There are many forms of antiperspirant including gels, which go on clear; solids, which go on smoothly; and invisible solids, which go on dry. Depending on what you want, how you are feeling, or even perhaps what you are wearing, you might choose a different form.
  

• Scent technology: There are many different types of scent technologies on the market. With Secret in particular, we offer BCDds; betacyclodextrin technologies, which are also used in products like Febreze. They are dual action in that they can hold and then release a fresh fragrance and neutralize odour when you need it. When you sweat, the capsules open up and release fragrance.

What happens if you don’t sweat?

Sweating is natural in many situations and carries out an important bodily function. The main reason you sweat is to cool your body. Your body has developed a complex system to ensure that cooling occurs through sweat and this system is extremely efficient. Even though sweat can be annoying and embarrassing at times, without it your body wouldn’t be able to conquer all the challenges you face in a day.

Did that answer all of your questions? Let us know by tweeting to @YahooStyleCA