Sweaty palms (Palmar Hyperhydrosis) in a tense or high-anxiety moment is perfectly normal and will ease up once the moment has passed.
In order to decrease general sweating, one has to either cut down the nerve impulses to the sweat glands, cut down on the
acetylcholine, destroy the glands, or block off their ducts, so that the sweat cannot flow out onto the skin. One of the main ways to cut down sweating is to use a medicine on the surface of the skin to cause the sweat to thicken and plug up the ducts, which is how the antiperspirants that are often used under the arms to decrease underarm sweat and odor work. These usually contain aluminum metal salts, such as aluminum chloride, which have to be frequently reapplied, or else the clumps in the ducts will get dissolved, unblocking the ducts and permitting sweating.
The sweat glands themselves can be destroyed, but since they are so small and numerous, and are located deep in the skin, methods such as electrolysis (which uses electric currents to destroy the hair roots) are not very practical. If only a particular area of the skin, such as the underarms, is causing sweating problems, there have been some reports on the use of liposuction to remove the apocrine sweat glands ther
Electric currents through the skin - called
iontophoresis - may disrupt the function of the sweat glands, preventing them from working for a long time. With the use of a home operated device, a small electric current is sent through the skin from one area to another. The electric current "shocks" the sweat glands, and they stop making sweat until they recover. By using this machine a few times per week, dryness in the area of treatment can be obtained that can last for weeks. This may work well if only a few small areas of skin have the
excessive sweating problem, but requires frequent treatments.
Medication may be taken internally that works to block the
neurotransmitter, acetylcholine, from stimulating the sweat glands. Some of the more useful medications include the anticholinergics (such as
glycopyrrolate or atropine), some antihistamines, some antidepressants, and some of the tranquilizers. However, these medications will also affect other parts of the body, and may have side-effects, including dry mouth, drying of other secretions or
constipation.
Home remedy for sweaty hands or feet: Boil five tea bags in a quart of water for five minutes. When the solution cools, soak your hands or feet for twenty to thirty minutes nightly. Tea contains tannic acid, which is also found in commercial products such as Zilactol, and Zilactin. The astringent properties of tannic acid are thought to be partly responsible for its antiperspirant action.
There are some commercial preparations like losweat powder etc available in the medical shops that you can try..
For those who suffer from excessive sweating for whom conservative treatments have not worked there are now new outpatient surgical procedures available like
endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy available as a definitive treatment for excessive hand sweating