Sweating in sleep
Sweating in sleep or at night is also called night sweat. Here, too, there are various causes, which can be harmless but also serious. For example, excessive sweating on the head can be caused by a normal cold or a hormonal change during the menopause.
Psychological problems and stress can also trigger sweating on the head at night. In diabetes mellitus, sweating during sleep can also occur during hypoglycaemia. A high ambient temperature can also cause night sweats on the head. Rarely are diseases such as cancer, chronic infectious diseases (AIDS, tuberculosis) or neurological diseases (apoplexy) responsible for night sweats on the head. If the night sweat suddenly appears and continues for a longer period of time, a doctor should be consulted to clarify the cause.
Sweating during the menopause
During the menopause (climacteric) a natural hormonal change takes place in the woman’s body. As the concentration of estrogen in the blood drops, some functions are disrupted. This often includes sweat production.
This causes women to experience hot flushes and sweats, which often occur suddenly, usually starting with sweating on the head, face, neck and chest and then spreading throughout the body. They can also occur only in the area of the head. This is a temporary phenomenon. In order to reduce the symptoms or reduce sweating on the head, certain herbal remedies or hormone therapies can be discussed with a doctor.
Excessive sweating on head and upper body
Man has two different types of sweat glands. The so-called “eccrine sweat glands” are much more common, have existed since birth and are important for the thermoregulation of the body.The “apocrine sweat glands” or also “scent glands”, on the other hand, do not develop until puberty, are much rarer and react to influences of the sympathetic nervous system. While the eccrine sweat glands are distributed over the whole body, the scent glands accumulate in certain parts of the body.
On the head and upper body, these are mainly the forehead, the armpits and the area around the navel. Hyperhidrosis can be idiopathic or secondary to a hormonal or functional disorder. It is divided into three different degrees: mild hyperhidrosis, moderate hyperhidrosis and severe hyperhidrosis.
A distinction is made between the so-called “gustatory sweating” or Frey syndrome, in which increased sweating of the head and neck occurs due to taste stimuli. Excessive sweating should always be clarified by a physician, since various diseases can be behind the sweating. Increased sweating of the head is rather rare and affects only about 10% of hyperhidrosis sufferers.
The first degree, “mild hyperhidrosis” is defined as increased skin moisture. In addition, this criterion must occur in resting situations and at room temperature, i.e. neither during sports nor in hot weather, and must occur at least once a week. The transition between physiological and pathological sweating is fluid, so in borderline cases a medical clarification should still be made.
Increased sweating of the head and neck can primarily be a pure predisposition again. One should also think of gustatory hyperhidrosis – also known as Frey syndrome – when increased sweating in the head and neck area is triggered by food intake or by stimuli such as chewing, biting, tasting or sucking candy. This usually occurs after an operation performed close to the salivary glands or the nerve responsible for taste (facial nerve).
Inflammation of the nerve, the parotid gland (Glandula parotidea) and the mandibular gland (Glandula submandibularis) can also cause Frey syndrome. This leads to maladaptation of the nerves, which then no longer end exclusively at the salivary glands, but also at sweat glands, which are then stimulated by acetylcholine during taste, chewing movements, etc. and cause sweating on the head and neck.
This syndrome can in some cases be triggered by trauma after birth. Of course, it is also quite normal to start sweating on the head and neck when eating hot or spicy food without any underlying disease. Also during menopause, sudden sweating of the head and neck is often triggered by a hormonal change – especially the oestrogen concentration in the blood.
