Green Sweat

Here's a strange medical case from China. It seems a bit odd, but it's in the Shenzhen Daily, so I guess it must be true. Why make something like this up? Doctors treated a man whose sweat had turned green. As the article describes: "On the evening of May 28, he noticed green stains on his shirt. At first he thought the stains had probably come from some dye he had accidentally touched. However, when he was helping a friend move furniture Sunday morning, he was shocked to see green sweat streaming down his arms and soaking his shirt." Thankfully the patient's name is Zhou. If it was Bruce Banner the doctors would have had legitimate cause for concern.

Health/Medicine

Posted on Wed Jun 30, 2004



Comments

I've heard of this sort of thing before. I heard if you eat a lot of beets your sweat turns pink. Maybe it is the same with other foods.
Posted by Alex  on  Wed Jun 30, 2004  at  11:37 AM
Yeah If you eat alot of radishes your pee turns a redish-purple try urself!
Posted by Hollow Man  on  Wed Jun 30, 2004  at  12:01 PM
Since the green sweat seems to have only showed up on/in his shirt (around the armpits, maybe?), I wonder if he was using some kind of deodorant that combined with sweat to make a green stain. I've used antiperspirant that (much to my chagrin) caused dark (not really green) stains on my shirts.

I also wonder what kind of soap he may have been washing with (or what kind of soap/starch or other substance his shirts may have been laundered with.
Posted by Big Gary  on  Wed Jun 30, 2004  at  10:35 PM
I think it might have to do with diet as well. I know that if you subsist on only rice (and a bit of fish) for a period of time your feces turns a green color...and since he is in China rice is a dietary staple.
Posted by Lothar Ignatius  on  Thu Jul 01, 2004  at  03:47 PM
I have drank blue colored sports drinks that have turned my feces to flourescent green.
Posted by Darren  on  Fri Jul 02, 2004  at  12:14 PM
It reminds me of if I use handmade scented glycerine soap, no matter what the scent is, it starts to smell like burning tires. My guess it's a lotion/soap/deoderant type of reaction...
Posted by Bob S. Yunkle  on  Fri Jul 02, 2004  at  04:31 PM
you never know, it could be some publicity stunt by gatorade.
Posted by Jacob  on  Fri Jul 02, 2004  at  10:31 PM
this is a really rare disease called chromhidrosis. here is a link for more info:
http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic596.htm
Posted by RayUno  on  Sun Jul 04, 2004  at  02:30 PM
There is a simple explanation that is more likely than a rare disease. I once worked in a factory with powdered pigments (making printing ink). The powder would become airborne easily so it was hard to prevent being coated with a thin, nearly invisible layer of colored powder. It would easily penetrate porous clothing and adhere to skin. Perspiring would then cause streaks of color. Look again at the original story. The man had accidentally handled some dye. Perhaps he and the doctors dismissed this as the cause for his condition because they simply lacked the experience necessary to recognize what happened.
Posted by Mark Brown  on  Sun Jul 04, 2004  at  07:36 PM
Gatorade
Posted by john  on  Mon Jul 05, 2004  at  10:34 AM
Never mind what country they would choose -- Gatorade would probably NOT choose a "green sweat" stunt for promotion. :roll:
Posted by Mark Brown  on  Fri Jul 09, 2004  at  08:59 PM
the scientologists tried this same hoax with firefighters after sept. 11th. they offered to put these guys through a "detox program" (the program is a medically dangerous combo of high levels of vitamins and prolonged sauna use) They claimed that the firefighters turned their towels "all colours of the rainbow" however, there was no evidence to prove it. also, no one who had been in the saunas noticed anyone else seeping these colours as they sweat.

http://www.nydetox.org/
Posted by guy incognito  on  Wed Aug 25, 2004  at  11:35 AM
I have personally experienced a very tiny amount of green sweat in one area! weird. My doctor said it was very common indeed, and nothing to worry about.. I made him refer to me a specialist who also said it was very common and nothing to worry about before I calmed down!

I have some difficulty thinking that someone could have more than a drop of green sweat unless they had been exposed to pigments as Mark suggested or exposed to some very odd toxin.

My sweat was actually as described on the Chromhidrosis site. It continued on and of for years but was only in that one tiny small area.
Posted by oh it can happen  on  Sun Jul 10, 2005  at  07:48 AM
Yup, I've got green sweat too, but only in a couple of small areas (apocrine chromhidrosis). Sounds like he's got a case of pseudochromhidrosis, where you get funny coloured sweat but only because of exposure to a chemical or something. 'Real' chromhidrosis is localised.
Posted by Yup, me too  on  Sat Nov 19, 2005  at  03:29 PM
I just purchased a home far-infrared sauna, and after the first 5 consecutive days of using it, my sweaty feet and my lower back left brown/red spots on my white towels. I thought I had dry skin or ??? but nothing... I did some research and found that you can sweat out toxins through your skin... The various colors mean different things...
Posted by Kristin  on  Mon May 21, 2007  at  08:33 PM
I think the man may have an infection with a certain bacteria called Pseudomonas arginosa. It usually occurs in patients with cystic fibrosis and affects their lungs producing a green pigment in their sputum. It may be affecting his sweat glands as well. It ususally produces a sweet grape smelling odor.
Posted by Amie  on  Thu Dec 06, 2007  at  06:18 PM
It is called Chromohidrosis:


http://www.emedicine.com/derm/topic596.htm
Posted by epdoc  on  Sat Dec 08, 2007  at  05:32 AM
Chromohidrosis indeed. I've been suffering from this since 10th grade of hs, and damn it is embarrassing. I get concentrations of dark green dots on both of my cheeks on my face. All you have to do though to get rid of them is take a drop of water and rub over them, and they seem to dissolve and a faint film like substance forms, and you just wipe that off and all gone. Stronger concentrations of the tiny dots appear after strenuous exercise if it has been a while since you've gotten a good sweat in. It's only a residue that is left on the face that is green, the actual sweat is clear. Dummy doctors first tried telling me that it was flakes from the weights I was using that was falling on my face while benching... HAH.
Posted by Jeff  on  Tue Feb 26, 2008  at  11:23 PM
It can either be Chromhidrosis or pseudochromhidrosis. Chrohidrosis is effectively rare and the sweat would look more like the result of blending water color paint with water, it's not translucid. It will leave a "tan" on the skin as well as dying your lingerie! Pseudochomidrosis will often come with a lot of sudation in one big shot and can be everywhere on you body. Sometimes this illness can appear when you have a special fungus on the body or, a bacteria is liberating toxins to you sweating glands. The colors are various... green, black, orange and red. Mine is red.
Posted by S  on  Thu Oct 02, 2008  at  04:15 PM
Poor guy!! I must be very unpleasant!
Posted by Эротическое белье  on  Mon Feb 23, 2009  at  07:05 PM
I am on here looking for answers. My set of 9 year old twin girls face has been turning blue, red, purplish around the eyes, nose and lips for 3 days now. People at the hospital tried to make me feel crazy because it wipes off and looks like blue ink, or purple or red and accused them of playing with washable markers but they literally was turning colors in front of me and was not playing with markers. I told them they must have been some magical markers to keep changing colors like that. The dermatologists came down and took it pretty serious. They cant wait to get their hands on my babies since its so rare. Thy said they will need to get a whole dermatologists team together, of course every1 wants the experience and the credit if they come up with a break through plus they are twins who got a very very rare condition at the same exact time, go figure. What treatments do any of you use or meds? You can email me at concerned4residence at yah.....com
Posted by Stacey  on  Sat Feb 28, 2009  at  10:00 PM
With the pollutants that come with today's levels of industry and transportation, the average person is likely host to many toxic substances, including trace metals and harmful chemicals. The act of sweating can help to flush those toxins from the body. The skin, the largest organ of the human body, contains more than 2.6 million sweat glands. It's widely believed that infrared sauna usage helps to flush toxins from the body through the pores of our skin.
Posted by Kevin from Home Saunas Talk  on  Sat May 23, 2009  at  12:02 PM
Me and my friend were arguing about an issue similar to this! Now I know that I was right. lol! Thanks for the information you post.
Posted by pass drug test  on  Sat Jun 20, 2009  at  09:44 AM
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