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Tests and diagnosis
By Mayo Clinic staff
During your appointment, your doctor will ask about your medical history and conduct a physical exam. If your symptoms are obvious, it may be relatively easy for your doctor to diagnose hyperhidrosis.
Lab tests
Your doctor may order blood or urine tests to determine if the excessive sweating is caused by another medical condition, such as an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism) or low blood sugar (hypoglycemia).
Thermoregulatory sweat test
During this test, your skin is coated with a powder that changes color when it gets wet. The test begins in a room heated to a comfortable temperature, and then you enter a heating cabinet that brings your core temperature up to 100.4 F (38 C). Most people who have hyperhidrosis sweat enough to make the powder turn purple before they go into the heating cabinet.
- Kliegman RM, et al. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 19th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2011. http://www.mdconsult.com/das/book/body/208746819-6/0/1608/0.html. Accessed July 18, 2012.
- Smith CC, et al. Primary focal hyperhidrosis. http://www.uptodate.com/index. Accessed July 18, 2012.
- Cerfolio RJ, et al. The Society of Thoracic Surgeons expert consensus for the surgical treatment of hyperhidrosis. Annals of Thoracic Surgery. 2011;91:1642.
- Bradley WG, et al. Neurology in Clinical Practice. 5th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Butterworth-Heinemann Elsevier; 2008. http://www.mdconsult.com/books/about.do?about=true&eid=4-u1.0-B978-0-7506-7525-3..X5001-8--TOP&isbn=978-0-7506-7525-3&uniqId=230100505-57. Accessed July 18, 2012.
- Solish N, et al. Evaluating the patient presenting with hyperhidrosis. Thoracic Surgical Clinics. 2008;18:133.
- Eisenach JH, et al. Hyperhidrosis: Evolving therapies for a well-established phenomenon. Mayo Clinic Proceedings. 2005;80:657.
- Barbara Woodward Lips Patient Education Center. Hyperhidrosis (Excessive sweating). Rochester, Minn.: Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; 2011.
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