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• Start Here

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Summary

Sweat is a clear, salty liquid produced by glands in your skin. Sweating is how your body cools itself. You sweat mainly under your arms and on your feet and palms. When sweat mixes with bacteria on your skin, it can cause a smell. Bathing regularly and using antiperspirants or deodorants can help control the odor.

Sweating a lot is normal when it is hot or when you exercise, are anxious, or have a fever. It also happens during menopause. If you often sweat too much, it's called hyperhidrosis. Causes include thyroid or nervous system disorders, low blood sugar, or another health problem.

Sweating too little, anhidrosis, can be life-threatening because your body can overheat. Causes of anhidrosis include dehydration, burns, and some skin and nerve disorders.

Start Here

• Sweating and Body Odor (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Dehydration (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Smelling Sickness: Body Odor May Be Sign of Disease (National Institutes of Health) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Heat Rash (Prickly Heat or Miliaria) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) Also in Spanish
• Hot Flashes and Sweating (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish
• Hyperhidrosis (Excessive Sweating) (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Hyperhidrosis: FAQs (American Academy of Dermatology)

Images

• Excessive Sweating (Hyperhidrosis) (VisualDX)
• Heat Rash or Prickly Heat (Miliaria Rubra) (VisualDX)

Videos and Tutorials

• Sweating (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Hyperhidrosis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Sweat Problems (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Arsenic exposure is associated with elevated sweat chloride concentration and airflow...
• Article: The molecular signature of heat stress in sweat reveals non-invasive biomarker...
• Article: A personalized model and optimization strategy for estimating blood glucose concentrations...
• Sweat -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Academy of Dermatology
• National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases Also in Spanish

Children

• What's Sweat? (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Body Odor (For Young Men) (Boston Children's Hospital)
• Body Odor (For Young Women) (Boston Children's Hospital) Also in Spanish
• What Can I Do About Sweating? (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Absence of Sweating (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Hyperhidrosis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Iontophoresis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Sweating (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish