Sweating is an absolutely normal physiological process inherent in any warm-blooded creature. Increased sweating is called hyperhidrosis. Sometimes this condition is a symptom of serious illness. Hyperhidrosis can be localized in the armpits, feet, hands. And what if the neck sweats during sleep? How to treat such a problem and a harbinger of what disease it is?
Causes of excessive sweating
The exact cause of hyperhidrosis is difficult to establish. It is known that most often the problem appears in childhood and persists for many years. For women, a serious hormone surge , such as pregnancy or a miscarriage, can become a catalyst for hyperhidrosis. Who is more likely to suffer from hyperhidrosis - men or women? Statistics show that the number of people suffering from excessive sweating does not depend on gender. Age also does not play a special role: approximately the same number of young people and old people suffer from this problem.
If the neck sweats during sleep in an adult, is this condition a hyperhidrosis? According to the medical term, yes, it is. The causes of increased sweating of the neck at night can be the following diseases and conditions:
- endocrine disorders;
- vegetovascular dystonia;
- mental disorders and neurotic conditions;
- chronic overwork;
- osteochondrosis of the cervical spine;
- overweight and obesity;
- menopause and premenstrual syndrome;
- uncomfortable pillow and bed.
The effect of hyperhidrosis on the patient's life
This condition seriously complicates the patient's life. If the neck sweats during sleep, then wet sheets and an unpleasant odor remain on bedding and pajamas. The patient is often shy about this. Hyperhidrosis is becoming a source of low self-esteem and psychological problems. Women and men are embarrassed to stay overnight with a loved one: they worry that they will be mistaken for an unscrupulous person. Although in reality hyperhidrosis with uncleanliness has no connection.
The patient can take a bath with the most expensive shower gels, use the highest quality antiperspirants, but the problem of increased sweating will remain with him. Healthy people will never understand what a person with hyperhidrosis experiences.
Night and day hyperhidrosis
Increased sweating at night with a high degree of probability indicates either endocrine disorders or disturbances in comfort during sleep. The very first action of the patient, if his neck sweats during sleep, is a complete change of bed linen and pillows. Try to buy a pillowcase and duvet cover from 100% natural cotton or calico. Sweating should be back to normal.
Daytime hyperhidrosis is rarely deployed in the neck. His most “favorite” places of localization are armpits, feet and hands. Most often, this is a symptom of vegetovascular dystonia, circulatory disorders in the brain and spinal cord, as well as endocrine problems and thyroid dysfunction. For an accurate diagnosis and identification of the causes, you should undergo an examination and take tests with an endocrinologist and a neurologist.
What to do if sweating neck during sleep in women?
For the fair sex, the fact that the neck sweats during sleep can be a real test. Often girls are embarrassed by this fact and refuse to sleep in the same bed with her husband, which leads to quarrels and the creation of nervous tension and neurotic conditions.
The most common causes of night sweats in women are:
- endocrine disorders;
- malfunctioning thyroid stimulating hormone;
- menopause and hot flashes;
- premenstrual syndrome.
A woman should analyze whether the periods when her neck sweats during sleep are somehow connected with menstruation. If the situation worsens before the start of critical days, then you can adjust your life in accordance with the cycle. In extreme cases, during premenstrual syndrome, you can take special sedatives, this will reduce nervous tension. As a result, sweating will be significantly reduced.
Sweating neck while sleeping in a baby
In children, the most common causes of nighttime hyperhidrosis are an uncomfortable pillow, a synthetic blanket, and poor-quality bedding. Choose 100% natural materials and you can forget about sweating.
If this step does not help and the neck continues to sweat until the collar of the pajamas gets wet, you should contact a pediatric endocrinologist and complain about the problem. It will be necessary to donate blood for sugar and for the main hormones. With a high degree of probability, the child will be detected any endocrine disruption. Vascular pathologies are also possible, but this is mainly characteristic of adults.
The most effective treatments for the problem
Simple antiperspirants cannot solve the problem. Pharmacy products will not help either - Teymurov's paste, Formagel.
To date, modern medicine knows only two ways to solve the problem of hyperhidrosis:
- Pharmaceutical products based on aluminum, the principle of which is to completely block the pores at the site of increased sweating. If this is the neck, then, accordingly, the product must be applied to the neck. The most popular medicine for the treatment of hyperhidrosis is Dry Dry (which translates into Russian as dry-dry). This remedy costs about a thousand rubles and blocks sweat glands for five to seven days after the first application. After a week, the application of the product must be repeated. It can be used on any part of the body except the mucous membranes.
- Injections of botulinum toxin (or, as it is popularly called, botox). This toxin is able to completely block sweat glands for a period of six to eight months. This method is very expensive, since Botox is not used for injecting facial wrinkles into the face, but for a medical treatment of a different degree of purification. Botox gives completely dry skin for at least six months. Sweat is never secreted and never in any quantity, while Botox is in the upper layer of subcutaneous fat. The main disadvantage of this treatment is that often hyperhidrosis moves to another area, i.e. if the neck was sweating earlier during sleep, then after injections the feet or, for example, hands begin to sweat.
Of course, you can inject Botox again and again into the area affected by hyperhidrosis, but an excessive concentration of this substance is very toxic. So this is not a solution to the problem.
Before resorting to medication, if your face and neck sweat during sleep, consult your doctor and try to find out the exact cause of the problem.
Which doctor should I go to and do I need additional research?
The patient should detail his problem and consult with the following specialists:
- endocrinologist;
- gynecologist;
- neuropathologist;
- with concomitant problems - a psychiatrist;
- dermatologist.
Why is there a psychiatrist on this list? The fact is that often increased night sweats occur for psychosomatic reasons. And those, in turn, are a consequence of hypochondria, chronic alcoholism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, severe depression and increased anxiety. It is the psychiatrist who deals with the treatment of all these conditions.
An endocrinologist should rule out the presence of diabetes if the neck sweats during sleep. The causes of this condition often lie in the usual obesity (wrinkles on the neck rub and sweat is secreted), the endocrinologist is also involved in the treatment of it.
It will be necessary to pass a minimum of tests: these are biochemical and general blood tests, as well as an analysis of thyroid-stimulating hormone to exclude thyroid gland pathologies.
Vegetative dystonia as a cause of neck hyperhidrosis
If the neck sweats heavily during sleep, then perhaps this is one of the manifestations of vegetovascular dystonia. The following symptoms are characteristic of this disease:
- frequent dizziness, fainting, loss of consciousness;
- chills, fever;
- excessive sweating and hyperhidrosis;
- anxiety and irritability;
- headache and migraine.
If at least two of the listed symptoms are present on an ongoing basis, you should visit a neurologist. He will probably prescribe nootropics, in some cases tranquilizers will be needed. Many patients require vasodilator drugs to treat. After a course of drugs, sweating will decrease.
Endocrine pathologies and excessive sweating
Hyperhidrosis often develops due to an imbalance in the thyroid hormones. The first thing that endocrinologists do when they are asked why the neck sweats during sleep, is sent to give the patient blood for TSH, T3 and T4. These are the main hormones of the thyroid gland, and if their production is disturbed, then you should not wait for the coordinated work of the body. Not only excessive sweating is possible, but also hair loss, irritability, tremor of the extremities and many other unpleasant manifestations.
If the tests show that the hormone balance is upset, the doctor will prescribe a number of drugs. Most likely, it will be “Thyroxine”, “Eutiroks”. Also, endocrinologists often prescribe vitamin-mineral complexes to compensate for the deficiency of trace elements. This is most often "Supradin", "Doppelgerz Asset", "Alphabet".