Some kinds of infections cause hyperhidrosis. The most common are tuberculosis, HIV, bone infection (osteomyelitis), or an abscess. Certain types of cancer, like lymphoma and malignant tumors can trigger hyperhidrosis. Spinal cord injuries are also known to lead to excessive sweating.
More serious infections that can cause night sweats include tuberculosis or other bacterial infections, fungal diseases and conditions that are unusual and more chronic, such as disorders of the nervous system or in the body's hormone-producing glands (endocrine system).
Excessive sweating that isn't related to primary hyperhidrosis or fever (due to an infection or injury) can be a sign of something more serious. Certain diseases and conditions can cause secondary hyperhidrosis. Secondary hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating that is caused by an underlying issue.
Often when you're sick, your brain raises your body's thermostat a few degrees. You'll feel cold and have chills as your body tries to make a less welcoming place for germs. After your fever breaks and your thermostat resets itself to normal, you'll feel hot and start to sweat.
Seek immediate medical attention if your heavy sweating is accompanied by lightheadedness, chest pain or nausea. Contact your doctor if: You suddenly begin to sweat more than usual. Sweating disrupts your daily routine.
“There's this inaccurate idea that somehow a virus or bacterial infection will leave your body through sweating,” says Dr. Ardon. “That's not correct. Whether it's a flu or COVID, an infection doesn't leave our body through bodily fluids, and sweating more doesn't make a fever better,” she says.
Certain problems such as diabetes, heart failure, anxiety, and overactive thyroid can cause heavy sweating. And some drugs may cause heavy sweating as a side effect.
Similar to jock itch, athlete's foot is a fungal infection of the feet. The fungus thrives in moist conditions. Athlete's foot often starts in between the toes, where excessive sweating may be severe.
Excessive sweating, or hyperhidrosis, can be a warning sign of thyroid problems, diabetes or infection. Excessive sweating is also more common in people who are overweight or out of shape. The good news is that most cases of excessive sweating are harmless.
Causes of excessive sweating:
Facial hyperhidrosis is caused due to overstimulation of eccrine glands. This in most cases doesn't have any specific cause, while it can be hereditary. It can also be caused due to anxiety, substance abuse, menopause, hyperthyroidism or drugs like insulin, pilocarpine etc.”
If you sweat excessively from your head and face, in particular, you may have a condition known as craniofacial hyperhidrosis. Hyperhidrosis means sweating more than is necessary to maintain a normal body temperature. It can range in severity from dampness to dripping.
A fungal infection on the skin may cause redness, itching, flaking, and swelling. A fungal infection in the lungs may cause coughing, fever, chest pain, and muscle aches.
Excessive saliva, or hypersalivation, is often a side effect of other issues such as teething in babies, pregnancy, oral infections, acid reflux, and neuromuscular diseases including Parkinson's or stroke. If you feel like you are overproducing spit, be sure to tell your doctor.
The treatment for bacterial infections is usually a course of antibiotics. Doctors may prescribe antiviral medications for certain viral infections, but few antiviral medications exist. There are some illnesses that tend to develop due to either bacteria or viruses.
Most bacterial infections can be effectively treated with antibiotics. They either kill bacteria or stop them multiplying. This helps the body's immune system to fight the bacteria. Your doctor's choice of antibiotic will depend on the bacteria that is causing the infection.
Antifungal medicines can kill a fungus. Or they may stop it from multiplying or growing. There are several classes of antifungal medications and different types of medicines. Your healthcare provider will select the best prescription medicine.
Most common fungal diseases
Common infections of the fingernails or toenails. Caused by the yeast Candida, also called a “vaginal yeast infection.” A common fungal skin infection that often looks like a circular rash. Caused by the yeast Candida, also called “thrush.
Invasive candidiasis is an infection caused by a yeast (a type of fungus) called Candida. Unlike Candida infections in the mouth and throat (also called “thrush”) or vaginal “yeast infections,” invasive candidiasis is a serious infection that can affect the blood, heart, brain, eyes, bones, and other parts of the body.
but the infection can also be in your bloodstream. When Candida is in your bloodstream, the condition is called Candidemia. Candida infection can spread from your bloodstream to other parts of your body (such as your eyes, kidney, liver, and brain). If this happens, it is called Invasive Candidemia.
If left completely untreated, your stubborn fungal skin infection may cause some or the other kind of permanent damage and in some cases your fungal infection may eventually lead to death.
Excessive sweating of the face, head, and neck is medically known as cranio facial hyperhidrosis. This type of sweating is most often a symptom of a skin condition called primary focal hyperhidrosis that causes people to sweat excessively from specific areas of their body for no apparent reason.