In this thread we are discussing the annoyances of exercise.
It reminded me of a factual question that has come to mind. One of my problems with exercise is that I sweat. Well, everybody does, that’s part of the point; if you’re not sweating you’re not really working. But I sweat a LOT from my head. The perspiration pours down my forehead into my eyes, and dammit it, it stings! I use a sweatband and after 20 minutes I have to change it as it’s soaked through.
I look around and see other people also working and sweaty, but very few of them have drenched hair. Mine is dripping by the time I’m done. It’s disgusting. I’ve sometimes contemplated spraying my head with antiperspirant but have the distinct feeling that would be a bad idea.
Is it? Would I just sweat eventually regardless, and wind up with diluted salty antiperspirant in my eyes instead, rendering me blind as well? Would it even work? If it did work, would it just cause me to become overheated?
Have you ever considered tying a “do-rag” over your head? I have The World’s Thickest Hair and sweat profusely from my scalp thanks to that, but simply taking a bandanna, making it into a triangle, tying it around my neck and flipping it up over my head works wonders. I did this when I worked in an outdoor restaurant in the summer, and when I was in karate, and not only did it wick all of the sweat up into it it also kept the hair off my neck enough to give my head some more air.
On super-hot days, wetting & freezing the hankie in the middle of my shift also worked wonders.
Well, the headband serves the same purpose. When the headband gets saturated I switch to a cloth bandanna type thing that has elastic at the back to keep it on. It works for a while also. Both also for the most part keeps most (but not all) of the wisps of hair off my face. My hair is long but not extremely thick. I put it up in a clip or a ponytail while exercising.
I’d also like to keep my face from sweating, but I’m sure it would be a Bad Idea to put antiperspirant on my face.
Won’t work. Antiperspirant is not intended to stop exertion sweating plus the chemicals would get in your eyes. Like the others suggest-headband, cap, visor, do-rag,etc is the only way to go.
Well, thanks, runner pat. I kind of figured as much or someone would have been advertising it. If someone did invent such a thing, would it cause you to overheat? I mean, if we’re set up to do a lot of our cooling off the top of the head, and we could shut that down, would the rest of the body be able to do the necessary cooling?
Which brings up another question. I know perspiration cools down the body by evaporation. Does the head sweat cool the head specifically? Or does the somewhat cooled blood circulate quickly enough that sweating anywhere cools the whole body? How does that work? Animals that don’t have a lot of sweat glands cool themselves through the mouth and nose, right?
I sweat lots - I decided that if I am working as hard as I need to, I don’t care about what anyone else thinks. As long as I clean up, it’s fine by me. I did watch some guy behind me in a circuit class turn the mats over before he got on. Haven’t seen him back, either. If you cannot lie in someone elses sweat, circuit classes are not for you.
Interestingly, I saw some research that showed that heat buildup is a major limiting factor in aerobic exertion. Adding external cooling to a well vascularised area (the researchers use the palms) increased aerobic output. I am planning to run my next 10k with a couple of chemical chill packs in my hands, and it may be that exercise machines start being built with hand-chillers. Of course, you could try to find a cap with built-in fans…
I sweat lots too. I don’t worry about it when I’m exercising, it’s just the way I am, I do find it embarrassing sometimes when I sweat while not exercising.
I just got an image on someone rigging up a complete watercooling system to a Camelback (radiator, pump, and tubes). Then I thought that that could be a viable idea. Kind of at least.
I have thick hair and I sweat like crazy when I’m singing on stage. It looks like I’m singing with great passion (I am), but my eyes are closed because of the sweat sting. :o
I don’t particularly care about what anybody else thinks, either. I just want to be less uncomfortable. I keep complaining to my gym management that they don’t have the best air circulation where they need it most. The area where the highly heat-producing rowing machines is located has the least air flow. The area where you can exercise your legs and ankles has the best. Go figure. I’ve looked for a personal fan that could fit on the machines I use but so far have not found one. Maybe I could get a cold pack and lay it on my neck.
Adam Carolla had mentioned on his radio show that he had the sweaty head, and he had it cured with some kind of surgery or botox treatment. A little googling brings up a procedure called “ETS”. After the treatment cured his sweaty head he now sweats from the rest of his body.
Endoscopic transthoracic sympathectomy. It is also used to treat facial blushing; it completely eliminates facial blushing as well as sweating from the neck up. The main side effect however is increased (compensatory) sweating over the rest of the body. For people with severe social phobia the ability to interact with people without blushing is well worth it.
I like the rowing machines that use a fan as part of their resistance. So the faster you work, the faster it spins and the more airflow you get. I still sweat like a pig though.
I don’t doubt that it can be, but in my case I’m quite sure it’s not, and I would be lying if I tried to say it was. It’s not pathological in quantity, just very annoying.
As a chef with this problem, babdanas, hats, ect… are not enough. Dripping sweat is obviously bad in a kitchen and reading dockets is hard. Are there any shampoos or hair rinces containing Aluminium salts? Could this also help with hairdos that collapse due to sweat?