TeenHealthFX - Answers - Sweat Way Too Much

Body Temperature: Sweating & Coldness / Question
Published: September 30, 2002

Dear TeenHealthFX,

Some teens sweat way too much, and I am one of them. I saw on your website that doctors can prescribe medication called "drysol" or something, and I was just wondering, is this a antiperspirant to apply under arms or are these pills?

Signed: Sweat Way Too Much

Dear Sweat Way Too Much,

TeenHealthFX has heard from many teens that are bothered by the amount of sweat that they produce.

Sweating performs an important function of cooling the body. It is a necessary mechanism that the body uses to dissipate excess heat produced by exercising or a hot environment. General metabolic activity of the body becomes depressed (slows down) when the temperature of the body is elevated - to prevent this from happening you sweat - and sweat cools the body by evaporation. Sometimes excess sweating may be a sign of an underlying medical illness so a doctor needs to evaluate you.

To answer your question:

Drysol is a 20% alcoholic solution (liquid) of aluminum chloride hexahydrate. It is used to treat excessive perspiration of hands or feet or armpits. It is applied topically at bedtime and covered with a plastic food wrap, polyethylene or vinyl gloves for hands. In the morning, the treated part should be washed with soap and water. Initially started as 1-3 consecutive treatments per week. Once dryness is achieved, maintenance with one treatment per week should be enough.

Another alternative is 6.25% aluminum tetrachloride (Xerac), which may also be used as it is less irritating to skin than drysol. Other medications like propantheline and glycopyrrolate come in pill form, but are used to treat increased sweating involving the whole body.

Again, severe sweating is a condition that needs to be treated by a doctor. It would be a good idea to have a doctor examine you and try to get to the underlying causes of excessive perspiration. So see your doctor for an evaluation of your symptoms. If you live in northern New Jersey and do not have a doctor, you can contact the Adolescent/Young Adult Center for Health at 973-971-6475.

Signed: TeenHealthFX