The child is wet and cold. Causes of cold sweat on the body of a baby. Childhood sweating: what is normal and what is pathology

Some parents are alarmed by the question: “What does it mean if the child sweats a lot?” This problem is faced by mothers of children from one to 12 years old. Of course, seeing that the child becomes completely wet before he even gets into bed, parents begin to worry that something is wrong with the baby. Although this process is physiological and in most cases does not pose a threat to health, there are exceptions. They will be discussed further in the article.

Readers will learn why children sweat a lot, what can lead to such an unusual reaction in the body, and how to deal with it. The advice of doctors will help you understand everything, and we will also introduce you to the opinion of the famous pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky about this problem.

What are night sweats?

This phenomenon is not uncommon. Parents often come to pediatricians with such questions. Doctors explain this in most cases by the fact that the child’s sweat glands are not yet fully formed; they work intermittently until approximately 6 years of age. Then everything levels out, and there should be no problems.

In children, thermoregulation occurs differently than in adults. Heat exchange is regulated by breathing using the lungs. Children tolerate dry air worse than adults, and children get sick more often, the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract become inflamed, and pulmonary breathing occurs in a painful mode. In adults, thermoregulation occurs through the pores of the skin. Let's look at several reasons for excessive sweating in children.

Causes

1. If a child has extra pounds, he may sweat in his sleep much more often than children of normal weight. It is necessary to review the child’s menu and spend more time with him in the fresh air, in outdoor games. If it doesn’t help, then you need to check your thyroid gland.

2. In active and hyperactive children, hyperhidrosis during sleep is stronger than in calm and balanced peers.

3. The baby should sleep in a cool room. It is advisable that the air temperature does not exceed 20 degrees. This indicator especially needs to be monitored in winter, with the beginning of the heating season.

4. Another reason why children sweat a lot may be dry air in the room. Especially when the summer heat or winter radiators heat well. Normal humidity for a child's body is considered to be 50-70%. You can regulate this yourself by using humidifiers. In a dry room, if you have not purchased this useful device, you can hang a damp towel on the radiator, place an aquarium with fish, or place many indoor plants. The evaporation of moisture will help restore the air humidity necessary for the baby.

In this case, the child sweats a lot due to the drying out of the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs. The process of pulmonary thermoregulation is disrupted, and the baby becomes wet in his sleep, and cases of diseases become more frequent.

5. The children's room should be well ventilated before going to bed. This must be done throughout the year, in any season. Fresh air brings a new portion of oxygen, which leads to better pulmonary thermoregulation.

The famous TV presenter and pediatrician Evgeniy Komarovsky also answered the question of parents about why children sweat a lot. He says that basically the child suffers due to insufficiently comfortable conditions created by the parents. Only 3% of all children with hyperhidrosis have serious problems. If, in addition to profuse sweating, parents also notice other symptoms, then they should definitely consult a specialist for advice.

When there are no serious disorders in the body, but the child sweats a lot, Komarovsky suggests reviewing the daily routine. Children who are overly active, jumping and running throughout the day, become overstimulated. Before going to bed, quiet games are preferable; instead of watching TV, it is advisable to read a fairy tale to the baby before bed, give him chamomile tea or lemon balm to drink.

If a child sweats a lot, the reasons may lie in the wrong selection of bedding. You need to buy only natural linen, preferably plain, without dyes. The less the skin of a frequently sweating child comes into contact with synthetics and artificial materials, the better. Yes, and you need to wash children's clothes either with baby soap or with a special washing powder.

Particular attention should be paid to the pillow and blanket. Fillers should not be synthetic. Evgeny Komarovsky generally does not recommend giving a child under two years of age a pillow.

The doctor also advises not to put your child’s pajamas on ahead of time. It is better if the child sleeps in a T-shirt and shorts until it gets cold. Pajamas, and not synthetic ones, but made of cotton or flannel, should be worn only in winter.

The benefits of evening bathing

Another useful tip from Dr. Komarovsky is mandatory bathing before bed. If your child sweats while sleeping, the shower or bath should not be hot. It is better to start swimming at a temperature of +32 degrees, gradually reducing to 26 degrees. Cool water, in addition to hardening the body, also promotes good functioning of the sweat glands. After such a bath, children fall asleep well and sweat less during sleep.

For the most active children, it is advisable to carry out water procedures with herbal decoctions a couple of times a week. These are calming herbs - motherwort, valerian, mint, oregano, lemon balm. Before going to bed, you can do a light massage that will relax your muscles and calm your nervous system.

Sweating during illness

Often a child suffering from ARVI and taking medications sweats in his sleep. This weak state may continue for several days after final recovery. The body signals in this way that it has not yet fully recovered.

Some parents, especially working ones, rush to send their child to kindergarten immediately after recovery. If there is no temperature, this does not mean that the body is completely healthy. You need to keep your baby at home for at least a week to restore strength and boost immunity. Otherwise, in kindergarten, the child may again catch a new virus and get sick. And frequent illnesses again lead to severe sweating at night.

What to do if your feet sweat?

If parents notice that their child always has wet tights or socks in the foot area, then it is necessary to check the quality of the shoes. In summer, the insole of sandals should not be artificial or rubber. It is advisable to buy winter shoes from natural materials. Synthetics float and the baby's skin does not breathe. If it is not possible to purchase good shoes, you need to choose shoes made of artificial leather, but they must have holes for ventilation.

Sweaty palms

If a child's hands sweat a lot, this may indicate insufficient development of the sweat glands. Sometimes children react this way to strong emotional stress. The child does not yet know how to adequately perceive stressful situations, and the psycho-emotional reaction is often accompanied by sweaty palms. Some people, even adults, have a hereditary local increase in secretions from the sweat glands.

An older child with increased emotional stress sweats locally, but a young child can sweat completely.

Why does my child's head sweat a lot?

Babies suckling from their mother's breast milk expend a lot of energy. During this period, mothers often experience increased hyperhidrosis in the neck and occipital region of the head. It's not scary. The child will outgrow and stop sweating. You don't need to wrap your baby too much. If a baby falls asleep next to his mother, he may sweat simply from simple overheating.

But there are more dangerous symptoms that the mother must pay attention to. If a child’s head sweats after emotional stress, the sweat has an unpleasant and pungent odor, and there is hyperhidrosis not of the entire head or neck, but of individual areas. There may also be other signs accompanying this phenomenon.

What diseases can be accompanied by profuse sweat?

Young children may sweat due to diseases of the heart, kidneys and liver, or with lymphodiathesis, when the child’s lymph nodes become enlarged. Heavy sweating can be caused by impaired blood flow and heart rhythm. Cold sweat is dangerous.

Thyroid diseases and genetic disorders, child obesity or diabetes mellitus are also reasons that cause such local reactions in the body.

During the period of hormonal changes in the body in adolescence, profuse sweating may occur. This should go away with time.

Children also sweat during periods of weakness from diseases of the upper respiratory tract, while consuming large amounts of medications and antibiotics.

Rickets

The first signs of this disease are sweating, but you need to check whether the sweat has a sour smell. Most of all, when rickets begins, the head becomes covered with perspiration. But these are not the only symptoms. The main one is a pronounced negative reaction to light and sound. Constipation begins, children become capricious and agitated.

To prevent the disease from progressing, doctors try to take the necessary preventive measures in advance. In addition to vitamin D, walks in the sun are also prescribed, it is recommended to walk more in the fresh air, eat right, and do exercises.

When should you see a doctor?

1. Sweat has an unpleasant ammonia or sour odor.

2. It is thick and sticky.

3. It may be the other way around - too liquid and plentiful.

4. Salt is released during hyperhidrosis, even leaving white marks on the body.

5. Wet areas turn red and irritation occurs.

6. When sweat has a certain location, asymmetrical arrangement.

Now you know why children sweat a lot and how parents should react to this phenomenon.

The temperature of the human body is maintained within a certain narrow range.

This is done using the following mechanisms:

dilation of skin blood vessels - this increases blood flow to the surface of the body and active loss of excess heat;
stimulation of sweat glands - liquid evaporating from the skin promotes rapid cooling.

Sweat can be produced without an adequate stimulus, i.e. when there is no hyperthermia. This is how the sympathetic nervous system in most cases responds to some painful processes occurring in the body.

When children are hot, they move actively and become wet; this does not surprise or frighten parents.

When a child sweats at night or during the day for no apparent reason, many simply panic, especially if this happens often.

The term "cold sweat" is most often used to refer to sweating at normal temperatures when the body is not hot to the touch.

Why do children have sticky sweat?

When you sweat a lot and it dries out, your skin feels sticky. This occurs due to the mixing of sweat salts with sebum. This phenomenon can be caused by a number of disease conditions, some of which require urgent medical attention.

Cold clammy sweat - possible causes:

diseases of the circulatory system, heart defects;
hyperfunction of the thyroid gland;
taking popular painkillers and antipyretics such as paracetamol and ibuprofen;
increased emotionality;
pathology of the nervous system;
sticky cold sweat that appears during sleep is a common sign of incipient rickets;
increased intracranial pressure;
hypotension;
low blood sugar;
previous viral infection with complications.

In infants, this sign indicates:

about a lack of vitamin D;
disturbance of phosphorus-calcium metabolism;
physical stress during breastfeeding.

Teething can also be accompanied by sweating, like any inflammatory process with pain in general.

Some infections cause fever and sticky cold sweat:

flu;
mononucleosis;
viral gastroenteritis;
kidney infection;
tuberculosis;
pancreatitis, etc.

Cough and cold sweat are a common combination that often indicates diseases of the respiratory system, complications of ARVI:

bronchitis;
pneumonia;
tonsillitis (tonsillitis), etc.

Sweating as a symptom of emergency conditions

As mentioned above, the factors that provoke sweating can be completely non-life-threatening conditions. But it also happens that you need to react quickly and clearly.

Of course, cold sweat in itself is not terrible, but in combination with other symptoms it indicates the following serious health problems:

hypoglycemia is a sharp drop in blood glucose levels. This condition occurs not only in diabetes mellitus, but in healthy children;
sudden hypotension – a decrease in blood pressure due to severe allergic reactions, infections, etc.;
acute hypoxia – lack of oxygen in the body. Occurs as a result of poisoning, asphyxia, severe lung diseases, etc.;
shock – its causes are varied. There are several types of shock - anaphylactic, cardiogenic, hypovolemic, septic and neurogenic. The bottom line is that the blood supply to organs and tissues is sharply disrupted.

And more common reasons:

seasickness (motion sickness);
repeated vomiting;
vasovagal reaction;
severe pain, etc.

Why does a child have cold sweats and low temperature?

When parents see a mark below 36˚C on the thermometer, this often frightens parents. There are many possible reasons. Some of them do not require medical intervention, while others can threaten health and even life.

In any case, you need to try not to panic and remain calm. Think about why this could happen.

Here are the likely ones:

taking antipyretic medications;
treatment with vasoconstrictor drugs;
viral diseases;
exhaustion.

Monitor the child's condition carefully. He needs to be seen by a doctor if the following additional symptoms are present:

dizziness;
headache;
nausea;
cold sweat;
weakness;
irritability;
malaise, etc.

If the numbers on the thermometer continue to decrease, then before the doctor arrives, it is necessary to begin warming measures:

wrap the child in a blanket;
maintain the room temperature at least 20˚C;
ensure that clothes and bedding are dry;
drink hot tea.

Cold sweat in a child during sleep

For normal growth and development, a child needs healthy, uninterrupted sleep. What to do if your baby is sweating but has no fever? This phenomenon often occurs in children of all ages. Their sleep becomes more shallow, they toss and turn and wake up frequently.

Inappropriate environmental factors are most often to blame. However, there may be other reasons that need to be ruled out.

The child’s body and physiology have the following characteristics:

sleep is in the deep phase longer;
thermoregulation is unstable due to the immaturity of the system;
The density of sweat glands per unit area of skin is greater compared to adults.

This explains why childhood sweating against the background of general medical well-being is very common.

Sweating is a nonspecific phenomenon, on the basis of which it is impossible to diagnose any pathology. It may indicate either a cold or the development of a serious illness. If cold sweat appears frequently and is accompanied by other symptoms, you should take your child to the doctor.

What could this mean?

The most common areas of excessive sweating are the feet, hands, armpits, head and face. But the whole body can be covered in perspiration.

The causes of cold sweat in a child during sleep may be the following factors:

overheating due to warm pajamas, a hot blanket and stuffy room;
infections;
taking medications that cause sweating as a side effect;
excess body weight;
excessively vivid emotional dreams or nightmares;
eating spicy foods and seasonings, especially in the evening;
fever - in this case, sweating can be so severe that the baby needs to be changed regularly. In principle, this is not considered a bad sign. Many parents specifically give medications that cause sweating;
attacks of sleep apnea (breath holding);
impaired nasal breathing due to a runny nose, stuffy nose, cough;
stress, fear, fears.

A cause for concern is increased night sweats due to high body temperature, snoring or breathing problems (difficulty, intermittent). Also, if the child sleeps with his mouth open or is bothered by weakness, tiredness and fatigue during the day. Be sure to consult your pediatrician.

Additionally, cold sweats at night can be caused by:

autoimmune diseases (multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, fibromyalgia, lupus);
gastroesophageal reflux;
cerebral palsy (the main symptoms in this case are developmental delay, seizures, hearing problems and impaired motor functions).

What parents should do

Sweating is common in children. In most cases, the problem goes away as you grow and mature.

However, if it is observed for a long time, it is still recommended to consult a doctor and, if necessary, examine the child.

What you need to do first to help your baby:

maintain comfortable conditions in your home not only during the day, but also at night;
avoid consuming foods that cause sweating - Coca-Cola, spices, smoked foods, etc.;
take a walk before bed. Fresh air and moderate physical activity have a beneficial effect on the condition of the entire body;
make sure that the clothes are light, natural and breathable;
remove thick, hot blankets;
If a child breaks out in a cold sweat, this may be a sign of stress. Try to find out if he has any worries, fears or other reasons for this.

Why does a child sweat after a fever?

Fever during infectious processes occurs as a result of the effect on the hypothalamus of white blood cells (leukocytes) and other pyrogenic substances (interleukins and prostaglandins). The destruction of some bacterial species also releases pyrogenic endotoxins from their cell walls.

Neurons of the hypothalamus, which are responsible for the level of the thermoregulation set point, increase its value.

The body temperature begins to rise, and this has an important physiological protective function:

prevents the proliferation of viruses and bacteria;
stimulates immunity and phagocytosis;
the production of antibodies, interferon, etc. is activated.

Cold sweat after a fever of infectious origin in most cases means that the body has begun to recover!

When the body copes with the infection, the number of pathogenic microbes decreases and they die, the set point returns to its previous level. However, the temperature may not drop immediately. Therefore, the sweat glands begin to work in an enhanced mode, i.e. a mechanism to get rid of excessive heat is triggered.

Doctors' opinions on this problem

Krasnoselsky V.I.

Hyperhidrosis can begin at any age

Sweating in children can be a manifestation of hyperhidrosis. Moreover, most often this concerns teenagers, although in principle age does not really matter.

The task of parents is to trace what is the provoking factor - physical activity, some food, drinks, stressful situations, anxiety, etc. This is not so easy to do, so medical advice is necessary.

Early diagnosis of hyperhidrosis helps initiate treatment and prevent future psychological problems.

Buchatskaya Yu.Yu.

Sweating is an important diagnostic sign

Everyone knows about such a disease as bronchial asthma. The incidence is increasing every year throughout the planet.

People interested in medicine will probably easily name its main symptoms. And cold sweat at night is one of them. The fact is that problems associated with asthma often manifest themselves during sleep.

Also, classic asthma attacks are accompanied by sweating, which is caused not only by impaired breathing, but also by a high level of anxiety and fear during suffocation.

Sometimes parents are faced with such a nuisance as excessive night sweats in their child. The baby gets wet in his sleep as soon as he falls asleep, and sometimes parents need to change the baby into different pajamas several times during the night. Naturally, this cannot but worry caring mothers and fathers. With the question of whether the child is sick or if they need to treat him with something, they turn to the famous pediatrician and author of books on children’s health, Evgeniy Komarovsky.

About the problem

Night sweats are more common than you might think at first glance. According to statistics, every tenth patient turns to pediatricians with such complaints. In most cases, Komarovsky says, there is no reason to worry.

Sweat glands begin to actively function when the baby is 1 month old. But they are still imperfect and work “in test mode” for up to 4-6 years. It is at this age (from 1 month to 6 years) that most complaints about sweating occur. As a rule, Komarovsky says, the problem can be easily “outgrown.”

Another feature of children's thermoregulation is that it occurs not so much through the skin, as in adults, but through the lungs during breathing. If the air is too dry or the baby has a disease of the upper and lower respiratory tract, pulmonary breathing is impaired, it is not surprising that he sweats a lot in his sleep.

Sweating is influenced by a lot - both the child’s build (chubby and big children sweat more than thin ones) and temperament (active and especially impressionable children sweat more than calm ones). But the greatest influence is exerted by the atmosphere and microclimate surrounding the child.

Possible reasons

Most often, night sweats are not a pathology, but a variant of the norm, individual characteristics of the functioning of his autonomic nervous system. Everything goes away with time, and if it doesn’t go away, then this can also be a variant of the norm (after all, there are sweaty adults!).

Evgeny Komarovsky urges parents to calm down and not be nervous. However, there are 1-3% of children with this problem, in whom sweating may be a symptom of some disease.

Excessive sweating in itself is not a disease and does not require treatment. But if, in addition to the fact that the child’s legs, arms and head sweat during sleep, there are other painful and disturbing symptoms, it is worth visiting a pediatrician and undergoing the necessary examinations.

An urgent visit to a doctor is required in situations where, in addition to night sweats, the child often wakes up, sleeps restlessly, fidgets a lot in the crib, has a red face when waking up, in his sleep he breathes unevenly, intermittently, snores, and holds his breath. This may indicate apnea - a rather dangerous condition that requires treatment.

If the head sweats heavily during sleep, and during the day the child almost always has wet palms and feet, this may not indicate a deficiency of vitamin D in the body - rickets, which can cause deformation of bone tissue.

The doctor will be able to establish the true cause; modern laboratory diagnostic methods will come to his aid. With a high degree of probability, the pediatrician will prescribe consultations with related specialists (cardiologist, orthopedist, neurologist), among diagnostic methods - general and extensive blood tests, urinalysis, electrocardiogram.

Before running to the doctors, Dr. Komarovsky asks to make sure that the child has the right and comfortable sleeping conditions:

Air temperature

The children's room should not be hot and stuffy. The optimal air temperature is 18-20 degrees (and not 22-25, as required by sanitary supervisory authorities in children's institutions).

Practice shows that children who sleep in a room where the air temperature does not reach 20 degrees are more active and get sick less often.

It is especially important to monitor the air temperature in winter, at the height of the heating season. It is best to put a special valve on the radiator to regulate the heating intensity, and be sure to hang a thermometer on the wall in the nursery; it is better if it is located closer to the bed.

Air humidity

The nursery should maintain a relative humidity of 50-70%. Now there are special devices on sale - air humidifiers. If the family budget does not allow you to buy such a useful thing, then in winter you can hang wet towels on the radiator and make sure that they do not dry out, and also put an aquarium with fish in your child’s room.

The “correct” level of humidity is important so that the mucous membranes of the respiratory organs do not dry out. If this condition is met, the baby will be less likely to suffer from respiratory diseases, his pulmonary breathing will be full, which means that the process of thermoregulation will be normal, which will reduce or even eliminate sweating during sleep.

Ventilation

When falling asleep, the baby will be calmer if he is placed in a room where there is access to fresh air. Ventilation should be mandatory at any time of the year. Before bed and after sleep is the daily minimum. But it is advisable to open the window more often.

Bed

Bed linen should not be made from synthetic or semi-synthetic fabrics. They are "sweatshops". Therefore, for a sweating child (and for everyone else too), only underwear made from natural fabrics, without bright patterns, white or plain, devoid of textile dyes is suitable

Linen should be washed with a special baby powder and rinsed additionally. Pillows and blankets should not be filled with synthetic materials, and children under 2 years old do not need a pillow at all.

Cloth

Pay attention to what your child sleeps in. If you have created all the microclimatic conditions, but put him to sleep in a ventilated and humidified room in warm pajamas with fleece (and this is in July!), then all efforts will be in vain.

The child should be dressed lightly, in clothes made from natural fabrics that suit the season. It is better if these are summer and winter pajamas (according to the season), you can also sleep in a T-shirt and panties, but the underwear must be loose and not squeeze or rub the child’s skin.

Especially for those who sweat, you can buy several pajamas so that, if necessary, you can replace one with another right in the middle of the night.

Bathing

Before going to bed at night, Komarovsky advises to give your child a bath.. It will be more beneficial for a sweating baby if mom and dad teach him to take cool baths in the evenings.

You need to start with a water temperature of + 32, and gradually reduce it by 0.5-1 degrees until the water temperature reaches 26-27 degrees. 20-30 minutes of wallowing in such cool water makes the process of falling asleep easier, sleep stronger and healthier.

In children, this may indicate that the child is sick. This symptom should not be overlooked. Perhaps this is the first sign that you should pay attention and immediately visit a doctor. The therapist should prescribe a general blood and urine test, and only after that the picture will become clearer. Perhaps this is due to age-related changes taking place in the child’s body. We'll talk about all this in the article.

Why might a child sweat?

Cold sweat in children can be caused by natural environmental factors. Among them the following can be noted:

High air temperature in the room or outside.

The bed is too soft to sleep on.

The child is dressed warmly.

The baby is very active.

In all these cases there will be active sweating. To prevent this from happening, you just need to eliminate the reasons:

Always ventilate the room. The temperature should be no more than +18-20 °C.

Use orthopedic mattresses for sleeping. Forget feather pillows.

Dress your child according to the weather. Remember: children are more active than adults and are constantly on the move.

Before running to the doctor with a question about why a child has cold sweats, it is important for parents to familiarize themselves with the above information. Perhaps the reason lies in natural factors.

Worth paying attention

If all the factors described above have been eliminated, but the child continues to break into a cold sweat, this may indicate a serious illness and infection. There are a number of diseases that cause sweating. Among them are:

Rickets- a disease in which a disorder of the musculoskeletal system occurs due to a lack of vitamin D. It is quite rare in our regions, since there is no shortage of ultraviolet rays. As a rule, premature babies suffer from it.

Metabolic disease. In addition to sweating, there will be sudden weight loss or gain.

Problem in the endocrine system (thyroid disease).

Viral diseases. Associated symptoms are fever, cough, vomiting, diarrhea.

Problems with the cardiovascular system. In this case, you cannot do without an ECG and ultrasound.

As you can see, if a child experiences cold sweat, the reasons can be quite serious. You shouldn’t put off visiting a doctor; it’s better to play it safe and be sure that everything is fine with your baby.

Sweating in babies

Separately, we need to raise the topic related to babies. In relation to newborns, the expression “baby in a cold sweat” is quite acceptable. This is how the body regulates body temperature. It is not for nothing that doctors recommend putting a hat, booties and armbands on the child in the first weeks. No matter how high the temperature is outside or in the apartment, the baby’s heat exchange is not yet working at 100%. The body only adapts to environmental conditions.

Many mothers sound the alarm when their baby sweats during feeding. Remember: the baby doesn’t just eat, but makes every effort to get milk from the breast. This is hard work for him, so in this case sweating is considered normal.

But if there are accompanying symptoms, such as cough, runny nose, sneezing, you need to consult a doctor. Perhaps the baby is diagnosed with an allergy. Unfortunately, this has been a fairly common occurrence lately. Children's immunity is weak due to environmental factors.

Another reason could be teething. Everything is very simple: there is an inflammatory process in the body, the baby experiences unpleasant, painful sensations, and begins to sweat.

Don't put off visiting the doctor

If a child does not always need to rush to the doctor, perhaps he is simply too hot or had a bad dream. But there are situations when consulting a specialist would not hurt:

Sweat has an unpleasant odor of ammonia or vinegar.

Sweating occurs unevenly.

Bodies all day long.

There is a cough or sore throat, runny nose.

Clear fluid or pus drains from the eyes.

Appetite has decreased sharply.

Sleep was disturbed.

To begin with, you should consult a therapist, and after taking tests, you may need to consult a neurologist.

An endocrinologist can help you

Very often, cold sweat in children may indicate problems with the thyroid gland. The symptoms are as follows:

The sweat is sticky.

There is an ammonia smell.

Sweating occurs even at rest.

During sleep, the child shudders.

The baby takes antibiotics or other medications.

In this case, you can immediately contact an endocrinologist.

When you can't waste a minute

There are situations when cold sweat in a child may indicate a serious malfunction occurring in the body. Then there is no time to wait, you need to urgently call an ambulance. This must be done when, in addition to sweating, the following clinical picture is observed:

Almost every person at least once in his life has felt the appearance of perspiration, so chilling that even the skin is covered with goosebumps. This phenomenon can affect both men and women of all ages. It is worth taking a closer look at the factors that provoke it.

Causes of cold sweat

The phenomenon, which is considered a type of hyperhidrosis, can occur as a result of a huge number of factors. Some of them are not dangerous, while others may indicate the presence of a serious illness. To specifically determine the causes of cold sweat, it is necessary to take into account the gender, additional symptoms, and age of the person. In most cases, you break into an icy sweat due to:

Age-related changes.
Chronic hyperhidrosis (a method that will help eliminate the deviation - botulinum toxin injections).
Infectious diseases, especially hepatitis, tuberculosis.
Taking certain medications.
Consequences of surgery.
Allergic reaction to certain foods.
Pregnancy. The growing volume of blood circulating in the body affects the sweat glands.
Hypoxia.
Drug, alcohol intoxication, hangover.
Metabolic disorders.
Constant stress.
Diabetes. Insulin affects the sweating system.
Food poisoning.
Problems with the endocrine system.
Migraine. Often severe headaches provoke a surge of adrenaline, causing the person to sweat profusely.
Cardiovascular diseases.

Cold sweat at night

This is a very common occurrence, which sometimes forces a person to wake up and change his bed linen. You may break into cold sweats at night due to:

Viral and infectious diseases. The symptom is characteristic of influenza, tuberculosis, HIV, mononucleosis, cellular anemia, lymphoma.
Withdrawal syndrome.
Idiopathic hyperhidrosis. This phenomenon occurs for no reason, sometimes in a dream, in most cases it is usually associated with stress.
A sharp decrease in blood or intracranial pressure.
Hormonal imbalances (especially in women).

Cold sweat and fever

This phenomenon is very ambiguous. As a rule, cold sweat and a temperature above 37 degrees are nothing more than a natural reaction of the body, as it tries to cool itself down. However, this is rare. Much more often with cold perspiration, the body temperature, on the contrary, is lowered. This phenomenon is typical for:

Exacerbations of chronic diseases. This is often a symptom of hypothyroidism.
Problems with the adrenal glands. The phenomenon can be eliminated by drinking more fluid.
A drug overdose or simply a side effect of one or another treatment.

Cold sticky sweat

This phenomenon is very dangerous for health. If a person who observes the rules of personal hygiene does not secrete a transparent and liquid substance, but a viscous one with an unpleasant odor, then this indicates that it is difficult for the entire body to cope with its functions. The appearance of cold sticky sweat on the body and palms is possible when:

myocardial infarction and other heart problems;
adverse reaction to any drug;
respiratory infection;
deep alcohol and drug intoxication;
diabetes mellitus;
mental illness;
problems with the thyroid gland;
diseases of the autonomic nervous system;
hormonal imbalances;
metabolic disorders;
allergies;
menopause;
food poisoning.

With severe dizziness

If this phenomenon occurs to you often, then you should definitely consult a doctor. Severe dizziness and cold sweat in sudden waves can occur with:

Overdose of medications or allergic reaction to them. Often perspiration and dizziness are caused by antibiotics, tranquilizers, and antiseptics. The condition is accompanied by the appearance of spots in the eyes and sleep disturbances.
Pathologies of the inner ear. The phenomenon is accompanied by palpitations, nausea, and weakness.
Migraines. This is how an aura can manifest itself - a state preceding an attack.
Ear infections, otitis, otolaryngitis.
Advanced infectious diseases.

For a cold

As a rule, there is absolutely nothing wrong with such a phenomenon. If you break into a cold sweat when you have a cold, this is the body’s natural defense, as it fights infections and viruses and tries to get rid of them as quickly as possible. The phenomenon can be observed both at elevated and at normal body temperature, accompanied by trembling. If other cold symptoms do not bother you, then you should not worry about perspiration. If the disease is atypical for you, consult a doctor and be sure to tell him about sweating.

Causes of cold sweat in a child

This phenomenon occurs frequently in children. If a baby wakes up cold and sweaty during feeding, then this is absolutely normal. Sweat appears on the baby's forehead due to the efforts he makes to eat. If your child has a cold sweat when he wakes up, this may be caused by:

rickets due to lack of vitamin D;
viral colds (additional symptoms – cough, runny nose);
genetic predisposition to hyperhidrosis;
sleeping in a room that is too warm;
lymphatic diathesis;
teething, the consequence of which is an inflammatory process;
thyroid disorders;
diseases of blood vessels, heart.