Nervousness and Sweating: Causes, Triggers & Fixes

Not all sweat is created equal. While sweating in a hot environment helps cool your body down when you're overheated, emotional sweating is triggered by stress, anxiety, or nervousness. Often, it shows up exactly when you don’t want it to: job interviews, presentations, or first dates.

In this article, we’ll break down what causes nervous sweating, how it differs from other types of perspiration and how to stop nervous sweating with practical strategies you can start using today.

What Is Nervous Perspiration?

Nervous sweating is a specific type of perspiration triggered by emotional stress, like anxiety, fear, or nervous anticipation. It’s your body’s way of reacting to perceived danger, even if that “danger” is just a high-stakes meeting or an uncomfortable first date. When stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol kick in, they activate your sweat glands, especially in areas like the underarms, palms, and face.

Unlike sweat caused by heat or physical exertion, nervous sweating comes from a different set of glands: the apocrine glands. These are located in areas where you're most likely to experience visible, stress-related perspiration. Nervous sweat tends to appear suddenly, with no relation to body temperature, and often feels harder to control.

So what sets it off? Common triggers include:

• Public speaking or being the center of attention
• Job interviews
• First dates or social anxiety
• Confrontation or high-pressure situations
• Anticipating embarrassment or failure

In many cases, this kind of sweating isn’t just inconvenient—it can be disruptive. It might stain your clothes, make handshakes awkward, or lead to even more anxiety about appearing nervous. The cycle of nervousness and sweating can create a feedback loop, where the fear of sweating actually increases how much you sweat.

How Does Nervousness Cause Sweating?

Nervous sweating is a built-in survival response—an ancient system your body still uses to protect you from perceived threats. When you feel anxious or under pressure, your brain kicks off what’s known as the fight-or-flight response. This triggers a cascade of physical reactions designed to prepare you for danger: your heart races, your muscles tense, and your sweat glands switch on.

So, what’s going on under the surface?

The process starts in the hypothalamus, the part of your brain that regulates your autonomic nervous system. When it detects stress, it signals your sympathetic nervous system, which acts like your body’s accelerator pedal in moments of fear or anxiety. This sets off a release of stress hormones like adrenaline and cortisol, which increase heart rate and stimulate sweat production through the apocrine glands, especially in the underarms, palms, and face.

Unlike the eccrine glands (which control temperature-based sweating), apocrine glands are more sensitive to emotional stimuli. These glands produce a thicker, more protein-rich sweat that’s often associated with body odor. That’s why stress sweat tends to smell worse and feel more intense than the sweat you produce during a workout or on a hot day. 

Overactivation of this stress pathway can lead to conditions like primary hyperhidrosis, where sweat production is triggered even in the absence of real stress. This condition often involves dysregulation in the central and autonomic nervous systems, and specifically an overactive sympathetic response.

In short: nervous sweating is your body doing its job. The problem is, it’s often working too well.

Common Nervous Sweat Triggers

These common scenarios frequently activate the fight-or-flight response, causing a sudden surge in sweat production:

• Public speaking
• Job interviews
• First dates or social interactions
• Performance reviews or high-pressure meetings
• Difficult conversations or confrontation
• Taking exams or tests
• Meeting new people or being in large groups

Situations like these often come with the fear of being judged, rejected, or embarrassed, making them powerful emotional triggers. When your brain interprets a moment as stressful or high-stakes, it sends signals to your sweat glands to prepare for “battle,” even if that battle is just a handshake or a question in a meeting.

What’s more, if you’ve dealt with sweat-related embarrassment in the past, the anticipation of sweating can become a trigger itself, leading to a cycle that’s hard to break. But recognizing your triggers is the first step to taking control.

Read more: 6 Habits That Secretly Signal Your Body to Sweat More

How to Stop Nervous Sweating

You might not be able to eliminate stressful situations, but you can control how your body responds to them. Here’s how to stop nervous sweating before it starts and stay confidently dry when it matters most.

Read more: How to Stop Sweating So Much [14 Proven Solutions]

Sweat Proof Undershirt

A simple and effective way to stop nervous sweat from showing through your clothes is to wear a sweat proof undershirt. Thompson Tee’s patented Hydro-Shield® technology features an integrated underarm barrier that absorbs and evaporates sweat before it reaches your outer layers, so you stay dry and stain-free even under pressure.

Unlike other options, the sweat-blocking layer is built directly into the shirt—no bulky pads needed. And because it’s breathable, tagless, and machine washable, it’s a long-term solution that both men and women can wear daily.

Breathing Techniques

When nervousness hits, breathing often becomes shallow and fast, fueling the stress response and triggering more sweat. Slowing down is one of the quickest ways to calm your body and reduce anxiety-induced perspiration.

Practicing intentional breathing techniques helps regulate your nervous system and interrupt the fight-or-flight loop. One simple method is box breathing: inhale for 4 seconds, hold for 4, exhale for 4, and hold again for 4. This technique signals safety to your brain and helps prevent a sweat surge before it starts.

You don’t need a meditation mat or a quiet room. Try a few rounds before a presentation, while walking into an interview, or even in the bathroom before a date. The more regularly you practice, the easier it becomes to access calm on command, reducing both stress and the sweating that comes with it.

Stress Management

If nervous sweating continues, it’s often a sign that your stress levels need attention. While quick fixes like breathing techniques can help in the short term, long-term stress management builds real resilience against anxiety-induced sweating.

Daily practices like mindfulness, journaling, and guided meditation help train your body to stay calm under pressure. Regular sleep, hydration, and maintaining a consistent routine can also reduce baseline stress levels, making you less reactive when stressful situations arise.

Cognitive behavioral strategies, therapy, or even digital mental health tools can also support you in breaking the feedback loop between stress and sweat. Small changes, consistently applied, can have a major impact on both your emotional state and physical symptoms like nervous perspiration.

Read more: Stress Sweat: What It Is and How to Stop It 

Clinical-Strength Antiperspirant

If over-the-counter antiperspirant isn’t cutting it, it might be time to upgrade to clinical-strength. Unlike deodorants, which only mask odor, antiperspirants are formulated to temporarily block your sweat glands, helping reduce underarm wetness at the source.

These formulas typically contain higher concentrations of aluminum chloride, the active ingredient that forms a plug in the sweat ducts. For many people dealing with nervous sweating, especially under the arms, this is a reliable first-line treatment. According to research on hyperhidrosis interventions, clinical-strength antiperspirants are one of the most effective and accessible noninvasive options for reducing sweat.

Pro tips for application:

• Apply at night before bed, when your sweat glands are less active.
• Make sure your skin is clean and dry before use.
• Let it fully absorb before dressing to avoid irritation or yellow stains.

If you’ve tried clinical-strength options and still find yourself sweating excessively, it may be time to look into medical treatments (more on that below).

Read more: How to Choose the Right Prescription Antiperspirant 

Dietary Adjustments

What you eat can also influence how much you sweat. Certain foods and drinks stimulate your nervous system or raise your internal temperature, which may worsen anxiety-induced sweating.

Common dietary triggers include:

• Caffeine (coffee, energy drinks, chocolate)
• Spicy foods (peppers, hot sauces)
• Alcohol
• Processed or high-sugar foods

These can increase heart rate, raise body temperature, and stimulate sweat glands—all of which are unhelpful when you're already feeling nervous.

On the flip side, some foods may help you stay cooler and calmer. Magnesium-rich options like spinach, almonds, and pumpkin seeds support nervous system regulation. Hydrating foods (like cucumbers or watermelon) and calming teas (like chamomile or green tea) can also support a steadier, drier state.

Read more: 10+ Foods That Reduce Excessive Sweating

Physical Activity

Regular exercise helps regulate the same stress pathways that trigger nervous sweating. By moving your body consistently—through walking, yoga, or strength training—you teach your nervous system to respond more calmly under pressure.

Physical activity also burns off excess adrenaline and cortisol, reducing the chances of a sweat surge when anxiety hits. Even short daily workouts can build long-term resilience, making stress-induced sweating less intense and easier to manage.

When to See a Doctor

If you find yourself sweating excessively even when you're not stressed or overheated, it could be a sign of hyperhidrosis—a medical condition that affects millions of people and often goes undiagnosed. Common signs include:

• Sweating that interferes with daily life
• Noticeable sweat patches despite minimal exertion
• Sweat dripping from your hands, face, or underarms without clear reason

When nervous sweating becomes chronic or disruptive, it’s worth exploring treatment options for hyperhidrosis. These include prescription-strength antiperspirants, oral medications that reduce sweat gland activity, and Botox injections for underarm sweating, which block the nerves that trigger perspiration. Botox is FDA-approved for this use and can provide relief for several months at a time.

For those dealing with sweaty hands or feet, iontophoresis therapy, which uses low-level electrical currents to temporarily disable sweat glands, can be highly effective. It’s often used in combination with topical or oral medications for better results.

Above all, remember that excessive sweating isn’t something to be embarrassed about. It’s a medical condition, not a character flaw. That said, treatment can significantly improve not just physical comfort, but confidence and mental well-being, too.

Read more: What Doctor Should You See for Hyperhidrosis?

Outsmart Nervous Sweating

You can’t always avoid stress, but you can outsmart nervous sweat. Whether you’re stepping into a big meeting or a first date, the right strategies can help you stay calm, collected, and dry. 

And if underarm sweat is your biggest culprit, Thompson Tee’s sweat proof undershirts are a quiet game-changer. With built-in underarm barriers that trap and evaporate sweat, they’re designed to help you feel confident even when your nerves are working overtime. Consider it your secret weapon for stress-free days—and dry shirts.

Try one risk-free for 30 days.