Salty deposits in or below eyebrows

[zorgkang]

Hello,

I've had this "problem" for a long time.  As the subject says, I often find a salt like powder in and under my eyebrows (not eyes).  It is often pronounced enough that I notice it immediately when glancing at a mirror.

Obviously it is due to sweating in that area but why is there so much sweating going on there specifically?  This happens without doing strenuous exercise by the way, and there is no sweat dripping in my face, but I have noticed that the region gets humid often, while walking for example.  Also, if my sweat is overly salty, how come there are only deposits there?

My first concern is that it doesn't look too good.  But I suppose it might also indicate some underlying salt related problem.  Maybe I'm not evacuating it enough?  I'm pretty sure I don't have too much salt in my diet, I'm probably below average for a North-American.

Finally, I searched on the internet but only found 2 other accounts of this problem, without any useful replies.

Thanks for your input.

[Muffin5175]

I am so relieved to find that other people have this. I am a 58 year old female, I am an RN and can find no solutions to this. I have had this for years, and wipe my eyebrows frequently to get rid of it. I would love to know what causes it. But-it helps to know I'm not alone in this.

[af83]

i'm 15, and i have had this same problem for about a year and a half now.  i'm not overly sweaty and the salt crystals will appear in a very short period of time.  as a result, i am constantly smoothing over my eyebrows to make sure nothing is there and if there is something it will go away.  i'm also obsessive compulsive so it became an awful habit and i do all the time now.  i'm just waiting for someone at school to point it out.  i'm so embarassed.  i never see anyone else with this problem.  i notice that it happens quicker and there is more salt when i am at school or in public as opposed to just being at home or in a completely relaxed environment.  but my face doesn't feel sweaty at all.  i need to know how to get rid of it.  i'm going insane!

[tms9]

I find it hard to believe hyperhidrosis is the cause of salty eyebrows.  I'm 43, female, and have had salty eyebrows for years now.  The doctor has never heard of it and assumed it may be some form of seborrhea.  I tried to explain: it's not skin flakes.  It is SALT CRYSTALS!  I've taken photos with my digital camera to show how a tiny "o" will form just below the eyebrow and the salt crystals form in the eyebrows.  I do not sweat much and I drink a lot of water daily.  A few days ago I showered in the morning and verified there was no salt at 10am.  I sat at my computer to work for awhile and at 12:45pm noticed in the mirror that the salt had already formed again in my eyebrows and in little o's under them.  I was not sweating or exerting myself.  A close-up zoom with my camera reveals the salt seems to exude from the skin cell walls and builds up vertically to make the o's.  I'm a Ph.D. materials scientist.  I know the difference between salt and skin flakes!  I'm relieved to hear of others having this same problem, but still wonder what it signifies is wrong.  For whatever it's worth, in Chinese medicine, the area above and between the eyes relates to liver function.  

If anyone finds out what is the cause, I'd love to learn from you!  I'm not on any medications, and I've tried many different natural supplements over the years.  Nothing has changed my eyebrow salt, although sometimes it is worse than others, and I cannot seem to correlate it with diet, exercise, season or anything.  I don't suffer from excessive sweating anywhere.  I have noticed that on a trace mineral (hair) analysis, my sodium and potassium levels have totally tanked, from being below normal in 1997 to being at undetectable levels in 2005.  These tests do not reflect serum levels of Na and K; they only indicate that there is insufficient surplus to be stored in soft body tissue at the usual healthy levels.  I have lower gut issues and have assumed I may have problems absorbing electrolytes because of this, but that would suggest that I would have insufficient serum Na and K, yet my blood tests come back normal.

I wish we could engage a decent medical doctor in figuring this one out!  My doc has no interest.

[NeedingReassurance1492]

Fellow salty eyebrow girl, here.  I also have low sodium and potassium.  Very strange.

[retatinob2]

I looked into this more.  It is possible we may hyperhidrosis.  I have facial blushing and sweating of the feet as well as the sweating of the eyebrows.  The eyebrow sweating is what causes the salt & the sweaty feet causes foot odor for me.  I think it may all be tied into having hyperhidrosis.  

[retatinob2]

Hi.  I have the same problem. Just wondering how much water you all drink.  I don't drink much water, but I think I'm going to try to improve on that.  I wonder if that has something to do with it.

[jezebel1978]

I have the same condition and have had it for some time.  I get a salty, gritty deposit on between my eye and eyebrow, and also somtimes in my eyebrow, but always in the same spots.  I notice that it will not appear for awhile at times and I tend to think it is either diet or exercise related.  I hadn't had it for awhile and then just recently I started running more than often (in addition to my normal strength workout).  As a result, my metabolism kicks into high gear at the slightest physical exertion, which makes me start perspiring a lot quicker than periods of time when I am not doing so much cardio.  Perhaps it is just an overactive sweat gland?