Causes and cures for excessive sweating

By Jang Su-hee

A good looking 32 year-old man, 180cm in height wearing a purple polo shirt walked into the clinic with his girlfriend. His problem started two years ago. After playing basketball with his friends, he sweated a lot and felt chilly afterwards.

Ever since that incident, he has been suffering from chills and constant excessive sweating. Sometimes these symptoms would be accompanied by an unpleasant odor. He has also been experiencing watery stools at times.

Excessive sweating, also known as diaphoresis or hyperhidrosis, may be a problem some people have to face daily. The human body has two types of sweat glands, Eccrine glands (located across the body) and Apocrine glands (concentrated in hair follicles in the scalp, underarms, and groin).

In natural cases of sweating, these glands are stimulated by the body’s autonomic nervous system, secreting fluids, usually water and sodium chloride, onto the surface of the skin to cool off the body’s temperature.

The cause of hyperhidrosis in general is still unknown and the cause is generally attributed to genetics. You may sweat all over the body or just in some areas such as hands, feet, head, forehead, back, armpits, philtrum, or at the crook of the knee.

According to “Donguibogam,” a medical encyclopedia from the Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910), sweating is attributed to many factors. For instance, weak protective “qi,” or life energy, causes sweating. Other reasons are due to problems with the organs such as the heart, kidney, spleen, and stomach.

“Donguibogam” describes sweat as the fluid of the heart; hence, when the heart is at a “hard-working” state, it may cause the body to perspire.

The heart is also considered to be the god of fire, and when this fire component clashes with the damp character of the stomach and spleen, the body starts to sweat.

Here, excessive sweating maybe related to deficiency in yang, which is controlled by the qi of the stomach whereas deficiency of yin and deficiency of blood causes the night-sweat.

I asked the patient to stick his tongue out for a diagnosis. Tongue diagnosis is one of the important diagnostic methods in Korean Oriental Medicine. Numerous books were published on the technique during the Chinese Qing Dynasty such as “Shang Han She Jian.” The patient’s tongue was covered with furry white coating. Thin white coating is natural and it can be seen on a normal person.

Somewhat thick white or yellow coating are usually seen on a person with indigestion, however, this case was different. In his case, his pulse was weaker than it would be expected at his physique.

After breaking out a sweat, your body becomes susceptible to easy intrusion of pernicious influences causing frequent chills. In the case of the patient, the symptom has become chronic, disturbing internal equilibrium for over two years.

The unpleasant odor may have been caused due to lack of qi which meant the energy is too weak to hold the body’s fluid. However, his sweat had an unpleasant odor, which is a sign of too much heat.

There are various herbal medicines to treat excessive perspiration. One of the best herbs for the condition is hwangqi (astragalus membranaceus).

According to “Donguibogam,” hwangqi is lightly warm in character and sweet in taste. The plant with small leaves strengthens qi, stops chills and lowers temperature, and alleviates pain.

It works on the surface of the skin by stopping excessive sweating and night-sweats. It also comforts the stomach and spleen. It is effective for pale-skin toned stout people. Constantly breaking out in sweats may cause embarrassment and discomfort, but don’t lose hope because there’s always a way.

The writer practices traditional Korean medicine at Nasaret Oriental Medical Hospital in Incheon.