Alternative remedies for sweating underarms
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
It is not necessary to think that our ancestors, in the absence of knowledge in the field of medicine, were so limited in effective means of sweat. How much there is a problem of increased sweating, so many people try to solve it in various ways. Just preference was given to natural remedies, focusing on safety. Maybe the recipes for alternative means for sweating underarms, hands and feet, which have virtually no side effects and can be easily applied at home, today are not considered as effective as pharmacy products, but there is no harm from them to the body.
Baking soda
Many people know that feeling when the use of modern cosmetics leads to the appearance on the skin of allergic irritations, rash, itching and other unpleasant symptoms. Quite often this happens with effective antiperspirant deodorants and antiperspirants containing a lot of different chemical components. But in this case, how to deal with sweat, especially if you do not want to expose your skin to substances that are harmful to the body, such as aluminum salts and formaldehyde, which contain various means for sweating of armpits, bought in pharmacies and stores?
Natural nontoxic and hypoallergenic products come to the rescue, one of which is baking soda. Probably, one should not once again dwell on the excellent antiseptic and antifungal properties of this natural substance, which is contained in small amounts even in our body. But these properties are so important in the fight against the unpleasant odor of sweat.
If the problem is only in the smell, you can use the simplest recipe for soda paste. To prepare it, mix the soda with a small amount of water, mix and apply to the area under your hands. Soda will also help with the smell of sweat that has been ingested in clothes.
If the treatment with soda is intended to reduce sweating, you need to tinker and prepare a natural deodorant based on this antiseptic. There are 2 interesting recipes for soda antiperspirants that will not contain harmful additives, but they will perfectly cope with hyperhidrosis, an unpleasant smell of the armpits, and will also take care of the delicate skin at hand (with a disinfectant and softening effect remaining):
- We take 30 mg of baking soda and cornstarch, mix well and add 2.5 tbsp. Coconut oil. Once again, everything is mixed, put soft "deodorant" in the dishes in which it will be stored, and put it in a cold place.
- In a small bowl, mix 45-50 mg of soda, 2 tablespoons each. Cocoa butter and cornstarch. Add to the mixture 3 tablespoons. Essential oil of shea, often used in cosmetology, and once again we mix the composition to homogeneity. Transfer the fragrant mixture into a suitable container and put it in the cold.
When the soda deodorants harden, they can be used as store sticks for treating the armpits. There are no restrictions on the use of such drugs (except for allergic reactions to oils), and therefore they can be used as they please, without fear of health consequences.
The disadvantage of such homemade antiperspirants is considered to be a high probability of the appearance of oil marks on clothes. Therefore, use such funds under clothing to be cautious, slightly dabbing the skin under the hands of a napkin after treatment with a soda antiperspirant.
Apple vinegar
It would seem that soda is an alkaline product, while vinegar has a pronounced acid reaction, but both of these remedies are successfully used against excessive sweating of the armpits. Too acidic environment, like alkaline, is not suitable for life and reproduction of pathogenic microflora, so it is worth shifting the pH of the skin in one direction or another, and the antibacterial effect is provided.
Natural apple cider vinegar, despite the sharp odor and distinctly acidic taste, does not irritate the skin, especially if it is applied by mixing with ordinary water (as for compresses used to soften the skin of the hands). In generalized hyperhidrosis, baths with the addition of vinegar are useful. It is believed that apple cider vinegar can be taken in a certain dosage and inside, but we are not fans of such harsh methods, so we will not offer them to our readers.
With hyperhidrosis of the armpits, acetic rubbing and lotions were widely used. In the first case, mix equal amounts of water and apple cider vinegar, moisten in a soft cloth and wipe it with an area of excessive sweating armpits for the night. In the morning, hygienic procedures are carried out using soap that will help remove the acidic smell of vinegar, but the smell of sweat will not disturb you all day.
For lotions, vinegar and water are mixed in a 2: 1 ratio. As a part of room temperature, a tissue napkin is moistened, pressed lightly and applied to the armpits for 15-20 minutes, pressing hands to the body. After the napkin is removed, the skin should dry naturally. You do not need to wipe it. This recipe is also recommended for use in the evening, and in the morning before going out to people, thoroughly wash with soap and rinse with clean water, alternating hot and cold water. This procedure will help to tone the skin and somewhat reduce the activity of sweat glands, and vinegar will not allow an unpleasant smell to appear if moisture does appear.
Such recipes not only help to combat sweating, they allow you to feel fresh and unlimited in movements, and not to think about how such sweat remedies can affect your health.
Oak bark
That's really really a unique herbal remedy for sweating underarms, which has anti-inflammatory and antiseptic effect. The rich composition of the oak bark and the content of tannins in it contribute not only to getting rid of the unpleasant odor of sweat, but also to reduce the activity of the sweat glands, and therefore the problem of sweating is not relevant.
Treatment with oak bark involves the use of funds from sweating of armpits, arms and legs based on the decoction of crushed vegetable raw materials for no more than 2 weeks, after which the work of sweat glands should stabilize. The main thing is to choose the right prescription and not to use natural medicine for allergy to raw materials.
Almost all recipes with bark of oak are based on the decoction of this component, which can be completely prepared independently, visiting the nearest forest or landing, where oaks grow. Residents of megacities can find raw materials in the nearest pharmacy and do not feel deprived of the gifts of nature.
To prepare medicinal potions, you need to take half a liter of water and 2 and a half spoons of ground vegetable material. To sustain the composition on fire for half an hour with a slight boil, then leave to infuse for 2 hours. The filtered broth is stored in a glass container, using for washing the armpits after a bath or shower.
If you add freshly squeezed juice to half a lemon in a ready-made broth, it can be used to rub the underarms. Alternatively, in this composition, you can wet a napkin and apply to the armpits for a quarter of an hour, after which the skin should be thoroughly rinsed with clean water.
In addition to the decoction of oak bark, you can also prepare a paste based on grinded in a coffee grinder vegetable material (100 g) and honey (5 spoonfuls). The mixture is thoroughly mixed and transferred to glass containers.
During the day, it is recommended several times to wash the armpits with clean water and rinse with decoction oak bark, and in the evening half an hour before going to bed, apply oak and honey paste to the underarm skin. Before going to bed, the armpits are washed again and dipped with a napkin moistened in oak decoction. This recipe allows for the course of treatment to cope even with a severe degree of hyperhidrosis. At least, so many consider those who checked this prescription on themselves.
During treatment, you need to closely monitor your sensations, and if irritation, itching or burning occurs in the area of application of alternative products with oak bark or honey, you should immediately cleanse the skin with water and apply a soothing cream. Further from the use of recipes with such components it is better to refuse.
Herbs from sweating of the armpits
Medicinal plants, of course, can not solve all the problems associated with increased sweating, but somewhat improve the situation may well help. In addition, their use in passing can help to remove and such a violation as increased irritability, against which the hyperhidrosis is intensified. Herbs will help to deal with stressful situations and strong feelings provoking a strong allocation of sweat.
As a plant remedy for sweating underarms, acting from the inside, you can use infusions, decoctions and alcohol tinctures of herbs that have a sedative effect. This is famous for valerian, motherwort, sage, mint. The last two herbs can be used in the form of fragrant tea regularly or with the excitation of the nervous system. But the preparations of valerian (tablets, tincture and decoction) and motherwort (broth and tincture) are recommended to take internally by the courses regardless of whether the stress situation is now or it was in the past.
As an external remedy for the treatment of excessive sweating apply decoctions or infusions of flowers and chamomile herbs. Camomile, as you know, has excellent antiseptic and anti-inflammatory properties, which allows recipes on its basis to effectively fight bacteria on the body and to remove irritation of the skin underarms.
Do not be afraid of an overdose, as in the case of medications. Chamomile tea can be wiped under the armpits several times a day, use it for lotions left on the body for 20-25 minutes, and also drink it as beneficial to the stomach and other tea organs.
You can use to wipe your armpits and cooked yourself tincture of chamomile on alcohol. For 220-250 g of vodka we take 4 tablespoons. Chopped chamomile stuff and insist for a few days.
Active fighters with bacterial infection can be called and herbs, such as calendula and celandine. Infusions and decoctions of these plants can also be used to treat areas of increased sweating.
True, herbs with antiseptic action help only from the smell caused by the multiplication of bacteria. If the cause of an unpleasant odor of sweat are toxins, you will additionally have to drink cleaning herbal preparations, which can always be found in any pharmacy.
But herbal decoctions with anti-inflammatory herbs taken inside, will help to reduce sweating caused by acute infections (for example, in case of flu, angina, otitis, etc.).
Soap from sweating underarms
Whatever means the person does not use sweating under the armpits, but he can hardly do without soap. Not for nothing is the use of various drugs for topical application, powders, antiperspirants, creams, etc. Means applying the product to the cleansed skin. But it is soap that is most often used to clean the skin at hand.
True, not many people know that some types of soap can not only cleanse the skin, but also because of its ability to fight hyperhidrosis. So, for example, tar soap has long been used by our ancestors to combat excessive sweating of the armpits and its effects in the form of odor and irritation of the skin at hand. This natural product does not contain any extraneous synthetic or chemical components.
In addition to drying and disinfecting action, tar soap has a lot of beneficial effects. Heals wounds and irritations, strengthens blood circulation, shows a regenerating effect, protects the skin from irritation. Disadvantages of this natural antiperspirant is considered unpleasant odor and the possibility of the appearance of allergic reactions to tar.
But, nevertheless, if the hygiene of the armpits is carried out with tar soap, the problem of sweating will not be as relevant as before.
Another remedy for sweating, which has come down to us since the times of the Soviet Union, is a laundry soap. It can be used in two ways: as a means of daily hygiene of the armpits (it is recommended to wash the area of the armpits with soap and soap in the morning and in the evening) or like a stick of antiperspirant, after slightly moistening a piece of soap.
Use such a natural "stick" in the morning before you leave the house, rubbing the area of the skin with your hands. The effect of laundry soap as a stick is based on the formation of an antibacterial protective film (and the antimicrobial properties of laundry soap are known to many) and temporary blockage of sweat glands.
Effective and safe replacement of laundry soap with its inherent "fragrance" will be a children's soap (can be with vegetable additives).
Today, on sale, you can find other types of soaps, which are an equivalent substitute for antiperspirants. This antibacterial soap of various cosmetic companies, soap-antiperspirant with all the properties of sticks and sprays, but used during showering, a natural antiperspirant in the form of Tamarind soap, which does not contain aluminum salts, but only useful components with a caring, drying and caring effect and perfume.
Essential oils in the fight against sweating of the armpits
Among the various collections, infusions, extracts and extracts from medicinal plants, special oils and physicians and cosmetologists are very popular. And this is not accidental, because oily liquids, the basis of which is extract from plants that have a specific effect on the body, are safe medicines for many diseases, ranging from skin pathologies and ending with headache.
As a remedy for sweating underarms, essential oils of tea tree, cypress, fir, bergamot, lavender and lemon can be used. Advantages of these natural remedies can be considered:
- a pleasant and strong fragrance, capable of breaking the smell of sweat,
- antiseptic properties that persist for a long time due to the oily structure of the composition,
- the presence of biologically active substances regulating the work of sweat glands and affecting their structure, all changes taking place at the cellular level.
It is clear that different oils can have different effects on sweating. For example, cypress oil, which is absorbed very quickly by the skin, has an almost instantaneous effect not from its cells. It is able to regulate sweating, rejuvenate and restore the skin damaged by the negative impact of the environment. Use this product topically, applying to clean, dry skin at hand.
Bergamot oil is known as an effective tool in the fight against bacterial and fungal infection. Due to the expressed antiseptic action it promotes wound healing, destruction of fungi, treatment of many skin pathologies. On sweating, this oil does not affect much, but it perfectly fights with the smell of sweat that arises from the action of the bacterial factor. Apply it, adding to the masks and creams that nourish and disinfect the skin. You can use bergamot oil, adding it to the bath while bathing.
Lavender oil, in addition to its favorite aroma, has a lot of useful qualities. It is a wonderful antiseptic, which soothes the skin, heals wounds on it, anesthetizes, cleanses and tones the skin. The soothing effect of lavender oil also has a nervous system, which reduces the intensity of psychogenic hyperhidrosis. With increased sweating baths with the addition of lavender oil are shown.
Fir oil, like extracts of any coniferous plants, has good disinfectant and tonic properties. Due to the rich vitamin composition it nourishes the skin and makes it renew. This normalizes the work of both the skin cells and the ducts of the sweat glands. The oils of coniferous trees carry a general health effect, which will help reduce the manifestations of hyperhidrosis caused by various diseases.
With regard to the antibacterial properties of oils, then none of them can compare with the essential oil of lemon, which is better than others coping with unpleasant odors, including the smell of sweat. In addition, lemon oil helps to increase blood circulation, renewal and cleansing of the skin.
But tea tree oil is considered to be the strongest means to reduce sweating, as it narrows the sweat ducts, reducing their activity, but not clogging the pores. The expense of oil at a sweating of axillas is insignificant. It is enough to put a drop of oil on the area of increased secretion of sweat and lightly massage the skin around the perimeter. This oil has an antibacterial effect. Knowingly it is considered the number one in the fight with increased sweating.
However, experts believe that the best effect can be achieved by combining different essential oils in one effective natural remedy, for example, mixing all the described oils in equal proportions. Thus, it is possible to achieve normalization of sweating and improving the condition of the skin in the inguinal region. Yes, there to say, in whatever section of skin the mixture is used, it will have a beneficial effect everywhere.
Burnt alum in the fight against hyperhidrosis
Alum - this is another natural and safe remedy for sweat, with which mankind has known for many centuries. Alas, we often give preference to new developments based on chemical components, without thinking, then the problem of hyperhidrosis can be old, but still topical, while spending less money and not losing health.
Alums are a viscous sour taste of a natural composition containing various minerals. So aluminokilievy composition found its application in the fight with sweating. And yet more often in discussing the problem of sweating, you can hear about burnt alum, which is a hygroscopic white powder, which can be purchased at a pharmacy.
Useful for hyperhidrosis properties of burnt alums include:
- a pronounced antiseptic effect that does not allow the pathogenic microflora to multiply in the area of application (largely due to the acidic medium rendered by the alum),
- stop bleeding and wound healing (useful in irritating the skin in the area of excessive sweating),
- anti-inflammatory effect,
- astringent and drying effect, especially useful for reducing sweating.
The action of alum in hyperhidrosis is not based on oppression of the activity of the sweat glands. The powder has a high hygroscopicity, which means it absorbs moisture, leaving the skin dry for a long time. In parallel, it destroys the pathogenic microflora in the zone of high humidity, which prevents the appearance of an unpleasant odor.
According to people's reviews, burnt alum helps to remove not only moisture, but also excess fat, secreted to the surface of the skin by sebaceous glands, which is very important for people with excess weight. Thus such medicine perfectly approaches the future mums worried about health of the "tummy", after all it does not cause even allergic reactions, let alone more serious and dangerous signs.
With diagnosed hyperhidrosis, burnt alum can be considered a safe remedy for sweating of the armpits, to which even experienced doctors are positively related. It is enough to use alum only once a day to remove unpleasant odor and irritation under the armpits, and also to protect your clothes from stains left afterwards.
Another alum is the absence of negative interaction with drugs that are used in connection with hyperhidrosis (boric and salicylic acid, talc, etc.). This makes it possible to create even more effective antiperspirants, consisting not of one, but of several active components.
[1]