Intense Sweating

[Guest ashley30]

Hello,

I sweat more than anyone else in my dance classes. It does not take much to have me sweating before anyone else. I do not understand why. I am always absolutely drenched in sweat. It looks like I jumped in a pool. I am just curious as to why I sweat so much.

[Mel Johnson]

Sounds like hyperhidrosis, but you need a clinical evaluation to determine if it is. See your doctor. In the meantime, here's a item from the National Institute of Health:

 

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/007259.htm

[Guest harrietthedancer]

I tend to sweat a lot in class, but I recently started wearing a black cotton leotard with a lining, which means that you just don't see it. Not a cure, I know, but it saves some embarassment.

[nicola_tendu_it]

This happens to me all the time. I'm sweating before the end of our plie combination. By the end of class, it looks like I got stuck outside in a rainstorm with no umbrella . yuck! I guess it's just my body's way of cooling off? It's really important to drink a lot of water both before and after class. If you're losing so much water during class, it's important to replace it. Also sometimes a sports drink like gatorade is good to restore electrolyte balance.

 

Also- if your teacher doesn't mind, you could bring a small towel to class to wipe your face between combinations or something like that. I used to bring one and just use it when the class got a water break.

[Guest abtballetdancer]

I have this. Maybe you are just working harder? I always assumed that was it. My doctor said it could be hyperhydrosis, but not serious enough for any surgery or anything (to remove sweat glands). Unless you are sweating all the time, in and outside activities, I wouldn't worry too much. Just don't wear a colored leotard, I find black meryl to be best.

[Skye90]

I'm the opposite of you, and it's always annoyed me. I don't sweat much at all...everyone else has really wet leotards, sweat all over the place and apart from a little of my face and hands, I'm as dry as a bone. I'm sure that I'm working as hard as everybody else; infact I know I am. I push myself as hard as possible in class and I'm always annoyed that I don't sweat. Can you just be a non-sweaty person?

[Mel Johnson]

Sure. There are lots of people like that.

[Skye90]

Good!

[Belle of the ballet #1]

i'm a really sweaty person too, i hate it.

it's not so bad now that we are allowed to wear darker leotards (black of navy) but i always feel bad when my teacher corrects me and has to touch my back to fix my allignment or something.

it's annoying that it's just dependant on the person, that there's no real reason for it, but it's not abnormal or anything, and i know i'd prefer to be dancing and sweating rather than not dancing just to avoid the excessive sweating!!! just think of it as one of the unavoidable annoyances of doing something you love.

 

luv belle

[Hopefuldancer]

I sweat very much too.. But unless you are dripping pools of water everywhere (exaggeration), I wouldn't worry. Your body is probably just very well at what it should do-- cooling the body off when the body is working. I wouldn't be ashamed at sweating like that- it shows hard work. Proper technique calls for several places in the body to be pushed down, in and up, and so on. In other words, your muscles are getting an intense workout in ballet class that will cause you to become very hot and sweaty. Just bring a towel and wipe your sweat-prone areas off periodically.

[les_sylphides_]

Sorry I deleted my post--I just realized that this was the 17-22 year old section only!

[LooseLegs2]

I sweat a lot as well. Some days when the studio's are incredibly hot, in port de bras devant, I will come up and find that there are several sweat drops on the ground. Or when im turning I can often feel the sweat flying off of me. I don't stress about it too much. I still wear colored leotards (and not just dark ones). In my opinion sweating is a natural part of working hard, so there is really no reason to be embarrassed. And I think you would be surprised at how much professional dancers sweat. They make it look incredibly easy, but if you see them close up, you will see that they are often SOAKED! Be comforted knowing that there are many other sweaty dancers out there!