What causes hyperhidrosis, or sweaty feet?
It is a natural process for the body to sweat. The body is covered with over 5 million sweat glands and the foot contains 250,000 sweat glands alone. Each sweat gland secretes moisture and salts onto the surface of the skin to cool it down. This explains why we sweat more during hot weather and exercise. Sometimes the sweat glands of the feet are overactive and produce more sweat than is necessary to cool the feet at that time, this is known as excessive sweating. It may occur simply in response to feelings of anxiety or stress or as part of a medical condition such as diabetes, hyperthyroidism, menopause or obesity. These medical conditions are likely to produce excessive sweating in other areas of the body as well as the feet. What are the signs and symptoms of hyperhidrosis? • Moist and wet feet • Continually damp or wet socks • Excess moisture on the feet creates a breeding ground for bacteria and fungi which break down to give off an unpleasant odour • Excessive fungi can cause pe
