Stop sweating: antiperspirants don't seem to work for me. What are my other options?

Shape, Sept, 2005 by Mary Rose Almasi

Q No matter what antiperspirant I use, I always sweat through my clothes. This doesn't seem normal. What can I do?

A The condition you're referring to is known as hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating. Our bodies naturally perspire as a way to regulate temperature, but in people with hyperhidrosis, the perspiration is excessive--beyond what's necessary to cool the body. "No one knows for sure why this happens," says William P. Coleman III, M.D., clinical professor of dermatology at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans and an expert on hyperhidrosis. "Some people just have more active sweat glands than others do." Here, though, are a few steps that may help minimize your sweat production:

* Exercise regularly to control your weight (heavier people tend to have higher body temperatures and thus sweat more).

* Avoid smoking and limit caffeine; both can raise your body's metabolic rate and hypothetically could increase sweating, Coleman says.

* Dress in light-colored, loose-fitting clothes, and try to wear cotton clothing next to your skin. Silk and artificial fabrics can cling, restricting airflow and causing you to sweat more. Garment Guards ($11 for five pairs; garment guard.com) are thin, disposable cotton shields with a sticky side that can be attached to the inside of your clothes to absorb excess sweat.

* Make sure your antiperspirant contains aluminum zirconium, an ingredient that stops sweating by blocking pores, which prevents perspiration from escaping. (You can find it in Dove Radiant Silk Anti-Perspirant Soft Solid, $3.79 for 2.7 ounces; at drugstores.)

You can also try Botox, the wrinkle-erasing botulinum toxin injections that have also been found to control hyperhidrosis when injected at the problem site. (See "Shape Tested, Botox: The Sweat Stopper?" below.)

Mary Rose Almasi is an award-winning Somers, N.Y.-based freelance writer who is self-conscious about her sweating.

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RELATED ARTICLE: Shape tested

BOTOX:

The Sweat Stopper

I have sweaty armpits. I also fear body odor, because where there's sweat, there's smell. I knew that Botox was sometimes used to stop sweating, so I went to see dermatologist David Bank, M.D., in Mount Kisco, N.Y.

After he applied the numbing cream EMLA, I didn't feel a thing throughout the 15-minute procedure during which Bank injected 30 shots of Botox into each armpit (it works by temporarily interrupting nerve signals that cause sweating to occur). Forty-eight hours later, I was sweat-free. Results lasted seven months. If you're diagnosed with hyperhidrosis, insurance might cover the procedure, but the rest of us will need to spend $700-$1,000 to have both armpits treated.--M.R.A.