Judging your physical health from the parts where you sweat

Studies have shown that there are about 3.3 million sweat glands on the human skin, and the sweat we normally sweat is secreted by these sweat glands. 99% of sweat is water, followed by urea and small amounts of metal ions, lactic acid, chloride compounds, potassium, sodium and some metabolic waste products. Summer is here and we will sweat more. So what is the relationship between sweating and health? We invited Zhang Zhenquan, chief Chinese medicine doctor and graduate student of Zigong Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, to explain it to us.

The importance of sweat glands in regulating human body temperature is obvious. Sweating is an important part of maintaining a constant body temperature. A normal person evaporates about 600 to 700 ml of sweat in a day. "External temperature, mental tension, emotional excitement, eating spicy or hot food can all cause the human body to sweat." Zhang Zhenquan said that if the sweat glands do not function normally, when the human body is in a high fever state, they cannot secrete sweat and the person will have a high fever, causing damage to the heart, brain, liver, kidneys and blood system. This shows the importance of sweat glands in regulating human body temperature.

It is understood that there are two ways for people to detoxify: one is urination, and the other is sweating. Zhang Zhenquan said that sweating is the most effective way to detoxify. We know that the high temperature in summer can make people sweat naturally, which is beneficial to the body's metabolism, meridian balance and the health of the immune system. If you stay in an air-conditioned room for a long time, even if you don't sweat, your skin will not be able to "breathe" over time, which will eventually cause chaos in the body's metabolic system and transfer the skin's detoxification function to the kidneys and liver.

Health experts interpret the relationship between sweating and

From the perspective of traditional Chinese medicine, the patient's physical condition is often judged based on the timing, location, amount of sweating and accompanying symptoms. All year round, regardless of whether they are inactive or lightly active during the day, they sweat profusely. These people often have characteristics such as physical weakness, low voice, poor appetite, and susceptibility to colds. Chinese medicine practitioners generally believe that this is a manifestation of "spontaneous sweating" due to qi deficiency. "This type of people can choose yam, soy milk, beef, etc. in their diet. They can also stew chicken or spareribs with codonopsis or astragalus to nourish the body and relieve qi deficiency."

Zhang Zhenquan told reporters that sweating occurs when sleeping and stops when waking up, and is often accompanied by irritability, hot flashes, hot hands and feet, dry mouth and throat, etc., which Chinese medicine often calls "night sweats" due to Yin deficiency. People of this type should eat more lilies, white fungus, turtles, etc., and less hot foods such as mutton, dog meat, onions, green onions, ginger, garlic, etc. They can also drink water soaked with Adenophora, Ophiopogon japonicus, Schisandra chinensis or American ginseng.

For children, slight sweating on the head during sleep is a normal phenomenon, but if it is accompanied by restless sleep, irritability, easy to be frightened, thinning hair, etc., it is mostly due to insufficient Yin blood, and medical attention should be sought promptly. In addition, the elderly and women who are weak after childbirth may also experience excessive sweating on the head, which is mostly attributed to "deficiency and fatigue" in traditional Chinese medicine, often due to deficiency of the lungs and spleen qi.

In addition to those mentioned above, excessive sweating is also related to hyperthyroidism, tuberculosis, rheumatic fever, endocrine disorders, etc., and necessary examinations and treatments should be done in time.

How to tell your health from where you sweat

1) Excessive sweating on the head

Causes and symptoms: Generally, it is caused by evil heat in the upper burner or damp heat in the middle burner. If you sweat a lot on your head and face, and at the same time feel your limbs are heavy and weak, your upper abdomen is bloated, and you have a greasy mouth, etc., it is mostly due to food stagnation or damp-heat in the spleen and stomach.

Doctor's advice: You can relieve the symptoms by reducing the amount of food you eat and eating a light diet, or you can take some medicine to strengthen the spleen and digestion or clear away heat and dampness.

2) Excessive sweating of palms and soles

Causes and symptoms: If excessive sweating in the palms and soles is accompanied by hot palms and soles, dry mouth and throat, etc., it is mostly a yin deficiency with heat; if excessive sweating in the palms and soles is accompanied by abdominal distension and pain, and constipation, it is mostly a heat syndrome with fecal accumulation in the intestines.

Doctor's advice: You can take laxatives; if you have excessive sweating in the palms and soles of your feet accompanied by dry mouth, swollen and painful gums, etc., it is mostly due to stomach heat. You can take Chinese medicine to clear stomach heat, such as Niuhuang Qingwei Pills, Qingwei Huanglian Pills, etc.

3) Excessive sweating in the heart and chest

Causes and manifestations: More common in some mental workers, these people are often accompanied by mental fatigue, loss of appetite, poor sleep, and frequent dreams. These are caused by excessive thinking, which leads to deficiency of both heart and spleen.

Doctor's advice: You can relieve stress and adjust your mood through appropriate exercise, such as jogging, Tai Chi, Ba Duan Jin, etc.