We at Matt King Undercover value the importance of sweat, that’s why we want to work with you and your sweaty issue so that you can live comfortably and freely without any self-conscious feelings. What we don’t want to do is prevent you from doing what is natural, but rather mitigate those uncomfortable moments so that you can live your best life.
So here goes:
Sweat is important, it is your thermoregulatory defence our bodies use to prevent us from overheating. Excessive sweating however or hyperhidrosis can be a warning sign for certain ailments such as thyroid problems or diabetes in severe cases, but the good news is, that most excessive sweating or overly sweaty armpits is normal. Also known as perspiration, sweat is a healthy and natural bodily function that starts to occur just several months after birth in each and every one of us. Designed to cool our body temperature down and regulate our heat patterns, we sweat through secretion from our sweat glands. Upon a heat response, our brain sends a signal to over 3 million glands in our body to release sweat and as the fluid evaporates from our skin our body temperature lowers.
Sweat is made up of water, salts and proteins and while we sweat in different areas of our body, not all sweat is the same and it helps to recognize this when embarking on a personal management system. There are two types of sweat glands: eccrine glands and apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distributed over much of the body and are in abundance on your palms, forehead and soles of your feet and secrete sweat directly through the pores of your skin. Sweat composition is mainly water and predominantly odorless. The apocrine glands, however, are found in only certain locations on the body such as your armpits and they are larger than eccrine sweat glands with their ducts emptying onto the hair follicles rather than through the pores of your skin. The sweat is thicker and comprised of mainly fatty substances and proteins which in turn becomes more odorous.
Equally as important, is to note that different factors trigger the activation of these sweat glands to react. Apart from just cooling down, there are several reasons why our body starts producing sweat. The nervous system controls sweat related to exercise and body temperature and triggers the eccrine glands to sweat. Emotional sweat, on the other hand, which comes from the apocrine glands, is a bit different. As Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, associate professor of dermatology at George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences explains ‘It does not serve a temperature regulatory function, but rather one to combat an impending challenge, think fight-or-flight response. If you sweat when you’re stressed, it’s because your body sends a signal to your sweat glands to start working’.
In the case of excessive underarm sweat, causes can vary from genetics to underlying medical causes, however, if there is no medical reason, and heavy sweating occurs it is called primary hyperhidrosis, this type occurs when the nerves responsible for triggering your sweat glands become overactive and call for more perspiration even when it's not needed. Primary hyperhidrosis may be at least partially hereditary. If the sweating can be attributed to an underlying medical condition, it's called secondary hyperhidrosis. Interestingly, women as it turns out have more sweat glands than men. Previously, it was supposed that men sweat more than women, however recent studies have now shown that a common factor in excessive sweating is body composition.
All in all, an excessive sweater can sweat up to 4 times more the average ‘sweat’ of ordinary sweaters. Baring all this in mind, it’s key to remember that our body keeps us protected and knows what we need when we need it. At Matt King Undercover, we want to embrace our bodies natural remedies and be kind to ourselves, this is why we have chosen the most premium cottons for our sweat proof undershirts and soft, organic materials that are kind to not only you, but the environment as well. We hope that we can support you on your personal management system and feel a more confident you. With all the support from us here…