HYPERHIDROSIS

Hyperhidrosis is defined as production of excessive sweat beyond what is necessary to cool the body. As we know we are warm blooded beings and we have the capacity to maintain a body temperature around 35 degree centigrade even when the weather becomes too cold or too hot. This is unlike cold blooded animals such as snakes which do not have this capacity and the body takes the same temperature as the outside atmosphere.This is achieved by shivering to generate heat and perspiration to dissipate heat. The process of sweating is controlled by the Sympathetic Nervous System. This involuntary nervous system maintains the five million or so sweat glands throughout the body. In some people, natural perspiration is excessive in the face and hands because almost two thirds of our sweat glands are situated in the hands .

Excessive sweating is one of the most common and important mechanisms used by the body to dissipate the heat generated in large amounts during stress.The sympathetic nervous system has two different components and the one that controls the sweat glands of the hand are the ones that reflect the responses to emotions and the state of mental arousal. Persons with hyperhidrosis have a genetically determined tendency for excessive sweating which becomes very prominent during moments of stress. Highly sensitized sympathetic nervous system is the cause of this problem. Yoga makes us understand that mind and body are two faces of the same coin. If the mind is very sensitive it is reflected as oversensitivity of the autonomic nervous system which results in this condition. This oversensitivity of emotional responses to situations in the form of excessive anxiety, fear or frustration can also be genetically transmitted.

What is the role of yoga?
Yoga gives the conceptual frame as well as the techniques for changing these response patterns.We may be born with a tendency to get very angry or tensed but we are also bestowed with the capacity to change these responses through our will power. Yoga practices help us to increase this ability to change the responses not only at the mental level but also at the physical level. The integrated approach of yoga therapy makes you very stable and tolerant(titiksha) to variations of mood (internal), as well as to changes in atmospheric temperature (external). This is described in Bhagavadgita as ‘Shita ushna sukha duhkheshu samah’(yogi is one who achieves equipoise under cold and heat, as well as excitement and distress).

What are the yoga techniques for hyperhidrosis?
A 15 year old boy presented with this problem and his mother was very much worried about his ensuing examination. He was a good student expecting high grades in his tenth exam. But his worry was whether he would be able complete writing his answers within the allotted time because he would have to keep on wiping the hands and applying the medicated cream (to suppress the pespiraiton) so often that his time would be lost. Anxiety would make things so bad that the local or oral medication also would not help him.
He was taught the basic set of yoga practices with emphasis on suryanamaskaras (12 rounds) practiced in quick jerky dynamic style followed by deep rest in DRT, QRT nd IRT. He was also taught Chandranuloma viloma(CAV),Seetali, Seetkari and Sadanta Pranayamas which he was asked to practice 12 rounds each, once in every four hours at home for two months before the exam. It was heartening to know that after these practices with the right understanding of the concepts of IAYT, he could control this excessive hand wetting to the extent that he could complete the exam very successfully without the nuisance of hyperhidrosis.
Research has been carried out at this center to study the effect of suryanuloma viloma (right nostril breathing-SAV) and chandranuloma viloma (left nostril breathing-CAV). Normal healthy volunteers were selected and were assessed for their sympathetic activity level by measuring the imperceptible sweating of the hands through a test called GSR that measures the electrical conductivity of the skin of the palm. They were asked to practice 27 rounds of CAV four times a day for ten days and the test was repeated. Another group of similar subjects were made to practice SAV , 27 rounds four times a day for ten days. It was observed that the group who practiced CAV had marked reduction in the hand perspiration which did not happen in the group who did the SAV. It is now known that the right nostril breathing activates and the left nostril breathing cools down the Sympathetic nervous system.Thus yoga can be of great help for this condition for which modern medical management aims at cutting or damaging the sympathetic nerves reaching the hands by surgical methods.