Wiping sweat frequently is not an effective strategy to protect yourself from the heat. Indeed, the effect of such a gesture can even be counterproductive.
Much of the body heat is in fact dissipated by the evaporation of sweat . We must remember that it is not the sweat itself that takes heat away from the organism, but rather its evaporation. If this does not happen, as in water or in environments saturated with water vapor (eg Turkish bath), the thermo-dispersive effectiveness is zero.
It must also be considered that the numerous drops of sweat present on the skin greatly increase the body surface and with it the area available for heat dissipation.
Drying the droplets of sweat, then the body surface is temporarily reduced, decreasing the dispersion capabilities of the organism. Furthermore, perspiration is prevented from evaporating.
For this reason, when the outside temperature is particularly high, we recommend fresh showers, sponges or sprays (spray), but always without drying.
For the same reason, changing sweaty clothes with dry ones during a physical activity is a disadvantage from the point of view of thermoregulation.
It should however be considered that if the sweating is already particularly copious or if the environmental humidity is very high, there is a risk that the sweat will drip on the ground even before evaporating; in these cases the excess of sweat produced runs down the body and has no advantage for the purpose of heat loss. We have in fact recalled how it is necessary for the water to evaporate so that the heat produced is transferred to the environment. In such circumstances if you are soaked with sweat the gesture of dabbing the skin with a towel is not an obstacle to heat dispersion, but may even favor it.
