Clammy Hands and Feet

Has this ever happened to you? You're minding your own business and doing whatever it is that you're doing and suddenly you become aware that you have really clammy hands and/or feet? A gross feeling it really is. And once the feeling creeps in, you can't really concentrate on anything else. All you want to do is make that feeling go away and get your hands and feet un-clammy again. So you do that and you go back to work...and there it is again! The clammy hands and feet. Why is that happening?

This condition can come about due to reasons like a change in body temperature, or could be an indication of more serious underlying health conditions. We will get into the details of this and understand why it happens, as well as understand how to go about treating the condition in the article that follows.

Causes

Clammy hands and/or feet are technically termed as palmar hyperhidrosis and could have at their base several reasons, like we mentioned before. Here are some of the conditions that you can look into to understand what this condition is all about.

Hyperactive Sympathetic Nervous System
The human body produces sweat so that the body temperature is maintained and all the functions run smoothly. Whenever there is a stressful situation, the body gets stimulated and reacts by producing sweat so that the raised temperatures can be brought down and none of the bodily functions are affected. These situations could include, anger, stress, nervousness or danger as well as external heat and less ventilation. All these situations that lead to clammy feet and hands are normal, but when there is a hyperactive nervous system, it can cause a malfunction and lead to sweaty feet and hands at all times, without any external or psychological reasons.

Peripheral Arterial Disease
Sweaty palms and feet can also be caused by certain peripheral arterial diseases which are caused due to a malfunctioning peripheral circulatory system. These occur when the blood vessels and lymph vessels outside the heart become diseased. The blood vessels which are responsible for transporting blood to the feet and hands get narrower and narrower and therefore cause clammy hands and/or feet.

Other Causes
There are other causes that can lead to excessive sweating. These include:

Anxiety Cold climate Anemia Sepsis Menstruation cramps Hypoglycemia Stress Shock Chronic pain Side effects of certain medication forms

Heat stroke Hypothermia Anxiety disorders Strokes Heart attack Tuberculosis Hyperthyroidism Menopause Glucose control disorders Exhaustion caused due to heat

Sometimes there are instances of clammy hands and feet in infants and babies, these could be one of the first indications of a rising temperature and fever in them. Other than that, if the instance of clammy moist skin persists for long, it could mean that there might be certain complications in the heart or circulatory system.

Treatment

• Washing hands with soap and water to get rid of the grime.
• Rubbing talcum powder or cornstarch on the hands and feet. This soaks in all the moisture and works as a great sweaty palms cure as well as a sweaty feet cure.
• Wearing shoes that provide proper ventilation is important to combat clammy feet.
• Using an antiperspirant spray on hands and feet will keep the moisture at bay.
• Using herbal remedies like epsom salts, sage and tea is known to be a great way of preventing sweaty palms and feet.
• Surgery to remove the sweat glands in the hands and the feet.(Usually the last option used)

These are some of the ways of how to cure sweaty palms and sweaty feet.

When it comes to clammy skin of hands and feet, there could be a plethora of reasons playing spoilsport. The deal is that you need to be more aware of what your body is going through. If the elimination of all probable and controllable causes is taken care of and yet this condition persists, then visiting a doctor and getting a checkup done is imperative to rule out any severe underlying diseases.