Excess Sweating: A cosmetic nuisance Part 6

Aluminum chloride - a strong antiperspirant

If the topical general methods do not help control sweat and if the normal antiperspirants fail, one should try and get a prescription of an antiperspirant that contains aluminum chloride. Aluminum chloride is a ‘strong’ antiperspirant and is thought to act by blocking the sweat gland ducts. It tends to work best in the armpits. However, it may also work for sweating of the palms and soles. It is not recommended for use on the face because if the eye gets exposed, it can cause a very painful irritation.

Several brands of aluminum chloride anti perspirants are available (Driclor, Anhydrol Forte, ZeaSorb, Odaban). Some come in a bottle as roll on applicator, others are in a powder form and others come in a spray. These anti perspirants work best when applied to clean dry skin and should be applied at night (when the sweat glands are less active).

For these anti perspirants to work well, one should:

-apply the agent at bed time (sweat glands are less active at night)
-wash off the agent in the morning
-Avoid shaving the area for at least 24 hrs
-Avoid getting it in the eyes
-do not apply on broken or inflamed skin or redden skin

The agent should be applied every 24-48 hours until the sweat starts to decrease. Once the sweat decrease, the agent can be applied every 1-2 weeks. The response usually takes at least 1-3 weeks to become obvious. Once sweating is under control, the agent should only be applied once every 2-3 weeks.

The problem with aluminum chloride antiperspirants is the severe skin irritation or inflammation. If this occurs and is tolerable, one may continue as it will decrease the sweating. To decrease the side effects of the anti perspirant, one needs to combine it with a topical corticosteroid.