This hyperhidrosis glossary explains the sweating terms used across this site in plain language. Use it when a treatment, diagnosis, or anatomy word feels unfamiliar. The goal is to make medical language easier to follow, not more intimidating. Many of these terms appear in reader stories, treatment pages, and surgery discussions.
Common hyperhidrosis terms
Hyperhidrosis: Sweating that exceeds the body's cooling needs and can affect areas like the groin, feet, hands, or other body parts. Perspiration: Sweat released onto the skin, where it cools the body as it evaporates. Antiperspirants: Commercial products sold in many stores to reduce odor and dampness, with medicated versions for more severe sweating. Apocrine Gland: One of two sweat gland types, found in areas like the armpits, face, and groin, and linked to oilier sweat. Eccrine Gland: One of two sweat gland types, responsible for watery, lower odor sweat across much of the body's surface.
Axillary Sweating: Sweating from the underarms, which exercise, anxiety, and medical conditions can all worsen. Palmar Hyperhidrosis: A medical term for excessive hand sweating, often linked to overactive sympathetic nerves in the chest. Plantar Sweating: Excessive foot sweating, which often appears with palmar hyperhidrosis. Bromhidrosis: A medical term for unpleasant smelling sweat, usually meaning stronger odor than normal. Flushing: A warm feeling, often on the face, that usually does not include the blotches seen with blushing. Erythrophobia: A fear linked to blushing and social interaction, often made worse by anxiety and self-consciousness. Rosacea: A skin condition involving visible blood vessels and facial irritation that can change skin texture over time.
Treatment terms for excessive sweating
Botox: The common name for a toxin used in cosmetic care and sweating treatment because it can temporarily reduce sweat production. Drysol: A commercial treatment made with aluminum chloride in an organic solvent, usually applied to dry skin and known for causing mild side effects in some people. Drionic: A brand name used for an iontophoresis machine that sends small electrical pulses and needs regular treatment. Hyperhidrosis Surgery: Surgery used to treat hyperhidrosis, including procedures like ETS. Clipping: A sympathectomy method that blocks nerve signals with titanium clips, which some people prefer because it may be reversible. Cutting: A sympathectomy method that cuts the nerve, either by removing a segment or making a simpler incision. Electrocautery: A method that destroys tissue or blood vessels with heat, using instruments that may be monopolar or bipolar. Endoscopic: A term often used for keyhole surgery, where doctors work through small cuts with specialized tools.
ETS - Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy: A procedure that cuts or clamps the sympathetic chain through small incisions instead of older open surgery. Titanium Clips: Clips used in sympathectomy to block nerve signals, with titanium chosen to reduce infection and allergy risk. T2 T3 T4 Levels: These levels mark where a sympathetic nerve is treated, with T2 referring to the second rib level. Robinul: A medicine used to reduce sweat gland stimulation and often discussed for palmar sweating. Nerve Graft: A repair procedure after a nerve is cut or injured, often using tissue taken from near the ankle. Varicose Veins: Enlarged veins, often in the legs, that can worsen after long periods of sitting.
Nervous system and surgery terms
Ganglia: Clusters of nerve cells that help connect parts of the sympathetic system. Kuntz Nerve: A disputed name used in sympathectomy discussions and sometimes blamed for surgical failure in humans. Neurotransmitters: Chemical messengers that help nerve cells send signals and support nerve activity throughout the body. Sympathetic: One part of the involuntary nervous system, paired with the parasympathetic system. Parasympathetic: One part of the involuntary nervous system, working alongside the sympathetic system. Gustatory Sweating: Sweating from the face during or after eating, often triggered by spicy foods.
Hemothorax: Blood collecting in the chest cavity, which is rare, serious, and may require a chest tube. Pneumothorax: Air collecting in the chest cavity after trauma or surgical injury to a lung. Horner Syndrome: A rare reaction after sympathectomy that can cause a drooping eyelid, small pupil, and dry eye.