Using Antiperspirants against excessive sweating: the pros and cons

Now that you know for sure that your excessive sweat comes from having hyperhidrosis, the first and easiest thing you can try out are antiperspirants.

What is it?

Like a deodorant, you apply it on your armpits. It can come as a stick, as wipes, etc. When deodorants control odors, antiperspirants control sweat. They block the sweat glands to reduce the amount of sweat. There are “extra-strength” or “clinical strength” antiperspirants that you can buy online or in stores (like Sweatblock, Certain DRI, etc.).
As you would for a classic deodorant, or even for a face moisturizer, you will need to try several brands to see if one works for you. Indeed, their composition may vary and what works for someone may not work for someone else (so you want to check the labels when trying a different brand to make sure you are actually trying something different).

Pros:

– Cheap: They range from $5-$20 so it’s a relatively cheap annual cost.
– Easy: It’s easy to find over-the-counter or online, and it’s easy to fit in your daily routine.
– Painless: It’s painless unless your skin is shaved/irritated.
– No prescription: This is the first step, the easiest solution to try to reduce sweat, so you can try this one by yourself without the need for a prescription, and just get them over-the-counter. Other solutions/steps are more advanced and will require you see a dermatologist.

Cons:

– Limited: If you have hands/feet hyperhidrosis like me, your armpits’ sweat is not going to be your main source of worry and using an antiperspirant won’t solve your issue. Although if you got compensatory sweat side effects like I did, this can be helpful.
– Safety: Antiperspirants contain aluminum. Some studies suggest that it may cause breast cancer for instance. But of course, you can find studies that say one thing, and studies that say the contrary… But my mom got breast and the doctor asked her to stop using any type of deodorant so I’m a bit biased on that one now. He suggested she uses lemon or tangerine drops instead. I’m a bit skeptical on whether it would really work and still need to try it out.

But if antiperspirants don’t work for you, and/or you have feet/hand hyperhidrosis like me, you might still need to look into trying Aluminum Solutions or Anticholinergic Wipes.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. I’m writing based on my own personal experience, and I added in some more details based off research. I’m simply giving you an overview of the options available to you to deal with hyperhidrosis, so you can have an understanding of what’s available when you talk to your doctor. Contrary to most things you will find online, this overview is not written from a medical or objective point of view, but written from the individual, unique, point of view of someone who went through most of the options. This is based on what I liked/didn’t like when I was trying each option.