Do you know what are cold sweats? In medical terms, cold sweat is called diaphoresis. This condition occurs when the sweat does not come from physical activity or body heat. Diaphoresis is a way for the body to fight stress and eventually produce sweat.
But what you need to know is that cold sweat can also be a sign of diseases such as heart disease. Therefore, in this article we will discuss what causes cold sweats and how to stop cold sweat itself.
What are Cold Sweats? The Factors that Cause It
Cold sweats can occur when you experience stress that can come from physical or psychological or can be the result of a combination of both of them. In fact, every human being has two to four million sweat glands namely eccrine and apocrine. Eccrine produces sweat which is mostly air and is useful for cooling the body. Meanwhile, heat triggers the apocrine glands which can be active due to stress or hormones. The two valleys that finally gave rise to cold sweat.
When you worry about something, then breathing and heart rate will increase. This can trigger the sweat glands, namely eccrine and apocrine to be active. For example, when you face a situation that is very stressful for you, you will experience cold sweat. But there are other factors that causes cold sweats to appear.
When it comes to cold sweats, it is closely related to anxiety and stress. In fact, most of the things that give rise to cold sweat. Some serious conditions such as disorders trigger a person’s frequent cold sweats.
The Second Cause
The second cause is the shock that occurs in the body. Usually this can happen after someone has an accident or injury. Furthermore, one of the causes cold sweats is a heart attack. Yes, if you experience shortness of breath, chest pain, and cold sweats then you are most likely having a heart attack. If you experience this, you need to go to the doctor immediately to get treatment because this is a serious matter.
Another thing that causes cold sweats is hypoxia. What is hypoxia? Hypoxia is better known as lack of oxygen. This can happen if the body is not getting enough oxygen. The cause can be an injury, the presence of an allergen, or a poison.
Next up is hypoglycemia. This is a condition in which blood glucose becomes low or below normal. This situation usually occurs in people with diabetes. Other causes are hot flashes, night sweats, and menopause. This thing causes cold sweats because of changes in hormone levels that trigger more sweat.
Another thing that is quite serious that causes cold sweats is the occurrence of hyperthyroidism. This occurs when the thyroid gland becomes so active that it produces a lot of the hormone thyroxine. If a lot of the hormone thyroxine is produced, the body’s metabolism becomes faster. This is what ultimately triggers the body to respond to it, causing some symptoms of cold sweat.
In addition to some of the factors above, another factor that can trigger cold sweat is infection. If you are infected with a virus or bacteria, your body will respond by sweating. The sweat that is released is usually a cold sweat. For example, this usually occurs in people with tuberculosis and HIV.
What Are The Symptoms of These Cold Sweats?
Now, you know what are cold sweats? So, as explained above regarding the cold sweats definition and also its causes, it turns out that cold sweat is one of them caused by the body’s resistance to strange activities that occur in the body. In fact, that’s how the body responds to foreign objects that enter the body, for example viruses. Not only viruses, the presence of external stressors also triggers a person to experience cold sweat.
If you already know what are cold sweats and also its causes, then now you will know what are the symptoms that appear when someone experiences cold sweat. First, if you experience a cold sweat then your heart rate will be faster. In addition, your breathing also becomes very fast.
Another symptom that can be caused is reduced blood flow to the digestive tract, which causes less saliva and dry mouth. In addition, there is also the release of endorphins and the opening of the sweat glands.
In accordance with the cold sweats definition that we mentioned above, of course you already know that cold sweat is different from normal sweat. You can sweat not because of exercise or the like but you sweat suddenly at any temperature. You can experience this at night or people usually call it night sweats.
There is one thing you need to note here that although cold sweats are experienced by everyone and it is normal, if you experience it frequently then you need to be careful. Moreover, if other complications arise such as shortness of breath or pain in the chest, you need to see a doctor immediately because it could be a sign of a serious illness that you are suffering from.
How Can You Treat Cold Sweats?
How to stop cold sweats? Here is the answer. There are several tips that you can do to reduce or stop cold sweats. You can do all of these things easily.
First, you can do home remedies. You have to make sure that your skin stays dry and clean. Shower regularly and don’t forget to use antibacterial soap to reduce the odor associated with cold sweats. This method can also reduce the risk of viral or bacterial infections that can cause cold sweat symptoms.
Are you one of those people who often sweat on their feet? What causes sweaty feet? One of the things that causes sweaty feet is moisture. Therefore, you need to change shoes often to reduce humidity on the feet and reduce cold sweats that occur. In addition to changing shoes, you also need to wear socks so that the sweat that comes out can be absorbed. Socks made of wool or sports socks tend to absorb more sweat.
Another way that you can do as a home method to reduce cold sweat is to relax, either doing yoga or meditation. It aims to reduce anxiety and stress that can trigger cold sweats. You also need to adjust your diet such as reducing caffeine consumption. This is because caffeine can actually trigger a cold sweat.
Actually there is no specific treatment that can be done for this cold sweat. This is normal for everyone. But if you do experience other symptoms during a cold sweat such as shortness of breath, you need to immediately find the root of the problem and go to a professional for treatment.
Conclusion
As explained above regarding what are cold sweats and their causes, of course you already know by now that lack of oxygen triggers cold sweats. If you go to the doctor early when the symptoms of shortness of breath occur, then you will get oxygen assistance and of course it will reduce the symptoms of cold sweat.
So, in general, actually cold sweat is not the main problem. Here what needs to be emphasized is that cold sweats are a symptom of a possible serious illness, especially if this happens frequently. One of the worst possibilities is the presence of cancer. Therefore, the sooner you go to the doctor, the sooner your problem can be treated.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not aimed to serve as a replacement for the consultation of a qualified healthcare provider.
