Have you considered putting anti-perspirant around your forehead and eyes, the way someone might apply sunscreen? Preferably something gentler, like Dove Pure or Dove Men+Care Dry Spray.

In my experience, anti-perspirant just makes the sweat come out of the body somewhere else, but at least it wouldn't be in your eyes.

For me, wiping seems to irritate the area and induces more perspiration. If I keep wiping it will pour out and won't stop. If I leave it alone it sort of calms down on its own, most of the time.

Sometimes pouring water over my head to cool off near the end of a very hot ride washes perspiration into my eye and it starts burning. I wipe, and then its a vicious cycle.

I've had to stop too because I could not see. Vision in my other eye is not that good.

You must have just gotten lucky at the genetics roulette wheel - heavy sweat glands in your forehead and a love for endurance sports. Mine is manageable. I know you like to run too.

Everyone here is trying to be helpful but I don't think many understand how abnormal what you are going through really is. It is like some form of localised hyperhidrosis or something.

One question. Have you seen a dermatologist or other specialist? Just curious.


-Tim-

I am allergic to anti-perspirant so probably a no go for me. Fortunately (carefully chosen) deodorant is OK.

dave

I was thinking along these lines but something strong, a clinical strength product.

Maybe SweatBlock.

https://shop.sweatblock.com/collecti...antiperspirant

Wipe it on before bed, let it dry and it works overnight to calm sweat glands. It is supposed to be effective for 7 days. I don't know about using it around the eyes though.


-Tim-

Hmmm - very interesting. Thx.

dave

Halo headband for the win. I can go hours without wiping sweat out of my eyes.

On long climbs in the blazing heat, I may shove my sunglasses into my helmet, just like the pros do.

I've tried several headbands and the Halo is the best. Since I have a large head, I get the headband you tie in the back; the "loop" headbands are too small.

The only thing which I found to work reliably in the worst parts of summer is to, well, just live with it when it happens and don't wipe the eyes (makes it worse). It dries up and ceases to burn, eventually. Look on the bright side, the burning of the eyes distracts you from the pain in the legs :)

Cycling caps work pretty well. They draw moisture to the bill where it evaporates. Works best with bill forward and flipped up.

Halo headbands and other sweat management suggestions are not helpful to the OP.

He has hyperactive sweat glands right around his eye sockets and so these won't help.

We are not talking about sweat dripping into the eyes from above but it being generated right at the eyes or directly adjacent to the eyes.


-Tim-

That probably works when the air is dry enough for evaporation to be a factor. Down here, you just have to route the sweat away from your eyes.

I second the suggestion that you just can't touch your eye area while riding, does more harm than good. Sweat stings in the eyes but you can't touch 'em. I have chronic dry eyes from Lasik surgery, which makes the sweat in they eyes burn even more. I carry a small 0.3oz vial of gel eye drops with me when I ride and that offers some protection, or a larger vial of liquid tears brand eye drops can also be used to just wash the sweat away while offering some mild protection.

Also, there are headbands that are Lycra-type material that could go further down the forehead and cover the eyebrows.

I too suffer from hyperhidrosis around the facial region. In the ATL summer humidity, this can create an exceptionally thrilling riding experience while careening along at ~35mph, barely able to squint out of only one eye.

For this, I've found no solution - only a means of rudimentary management:

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...34c9da1959.jpg

I did an interesting experiment yesterday. I had a bike mechanical problem and couldn't ride outdoors, so I did a short, but relatively intense (90+% of ftp) ride of 45 minutes. I had a 14 inch fan set to high and aimed right at my face from about 2 feet. I wore a Halo headband. Room temp was 76 degrees. Less than 10 minutes into the ride I could feel sweat beginning to well up around my eyes (and drip down my arms, etc). My instincts were to wipe my eyes, but I didn't. I got a hint of a burn and the existence of the sweat around my eyes was irritating, but it was manageable (in far better conditions than NC summer outdoors). The biggest problem was sweat dripping onto my eyeglasses (probably off my eyebrows).

At the end of the ride I just sat up in the saddle to recover. I took my glasses off. I was still in the airstream of the fan but another foot or a bit more from the fan. Really quickly sweat started to find its way into my eyes and the burning quickly got to the point that it would have been 'unrideable' and no way am I subjecting myself to that level of pain on every ride.

But this implies to me that maybe there are achievable air flow patterns that would improve the situation. FWIW, in my case wiping my eyes works very well. I just have to do it too often. If it wasn't for the glasses I don't think I would care. But glasses complicates the wiping process by a whole bunch.

dave

When I run into something like this in my own body, I hit the Glorious Google. In your case, google hyperhidrosis treatment. It's not normal, as you know. Therefore the modern world has provided you with treatments. Looks like there are some promising possibilities short of surgery or injections. Try 'em out.

I was aware of hyperhidrosis. Given that I pretty much have no symptoms other than during conditions of high levels of exertion or very high temps, I felt that this was not a match in my case. But maybe some of the "non-medical" solutions will be helpful.

dave

I've been very happy with how well this works. Pretty good at evaporating the sweat and helping to keep the head cool.
Pace coolmax helmet liner