BrainStuff Classics: How Does Anxiety Cause Underarm Sweat?

Anxiety can cause sweaty palms and armpits -- but why? And how can you combat it? Learn more in this classic episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/men/sweating-odor/anxiety-cause-underarm-sweat.htm

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey,
brain Stuff, Lauren Vogel Bomb here with a classic episode
from our archive. We all have things that make us nervous.
Performance is actually one of mine. It took me like
three years of weekly podcasting before I stopped pit sweating
every time I sat down at the mic. But so

(00:23):
that's a weird bodily reaction to anxiety. This episode delves
into why it happens. Hey, they're brain stuff, Lauren vogel
bomb here. So you're sitting in a large table in
a conference room with several of your colleagues, or maybe
in a crowded classroom. Soon your manager or teacher will
call you to the front of the room to give

(00:43):
a presentation. All you can think about is how nervous
you are. Your heart pounds, you feel tense, and now
there's that unmistakable wetness under your arms. Why just feeling
anxious about something like public speaking make your under arms
so sweaty. Anxiety can evoke a body response called fight
or flight, your body's way of readying you to deal

(01:04):
with a potential threat. While public speaking isn't really a threat.
The lower part of your brain, which controls basic body functions,
doesn't know that. Ultimately, you can blame your hypothalamus, a
part of the autonomic nervous system, for your anxious sweating.
When faced with a stressful situation. It tells your adrenal
gland to release dozens of hormones, including epinefrin or adrenaline.

(01:25):
Epinefrin is responsible for putting your sweat glands to work.
The idea is that your body will need to remain
cool and slippery during your supposed confrontation. Not everyone has
the same fight or flight responses. Some of us sweat
mostly from our apocrine glands when we're anxious, such as
those in the armpits in genital areas, while others sweat
more from the ecrine glands found on the rest of

(01:46):
the body. Ecrine sweat is bad enough because it can
mean sweaty palms, but in addition to potential pit stains,
apocrine sweat can make you smell bad because it's full
of protein and fatty acids. This makes it prime fuel
for bacteria that live on this skin, which eat your
sweat and excrete the stinky compounds that we know as
a body odor. Anxious sweating can be a vicious cycle.

(02:07):
Worrying about whether others can see sweat or smell body
odor on you may make you feel even more anxious.
For most of us, the fight or flight response that
occurs when we're anxious goes away fairly quickly. We calm
down as we warm up to the stressful situation, or
at the very least, we feel better once it's over,
and we can better control this anxiety through repeated exposure

(02:28):
to it. The more practice we get, the less scary
it seems. But some people have an extreme reaction to anxiety,
including excessive under armed sweating that can last for hours.
A stronger antiperspirant can help deal with the sweat, but
sometimes an anxiety disorder is at the root of the problem.
If sweaty symptoms never seem to ease, don't worry. A
doctor can help find a therapy that works for you.

(02:55):
Today's episode is based on the article why does anxiety
cause under arm sweat? On how stuffworks dot com written
by Shanna Freeman. Brain Stuff is production by Heart Radio
in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com, and this episode
was produced by Tristan McNeil and Tyler Klang. Four more
podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the I heart Radio app,
Apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.