"Sweat Test"

We did it when my son was over a year old too. He was falling off the weight chart and they wanted to rule out cystic fibrosis. It was non evasive. In fact they got my son ready to go and then they let him go to the play area and play for a while. It was really no big deal. He did get a bit bored, so I would suggest a portable DVD player and headphones if you have it.

The sweat test measures the amount of chloride in the sweat. There are no needles involved in this test.

In the first part, a colorless, odorless chemical, that causes sweating, is put on a small area on an arm or leg. An electrode is then put over that spot. This lets the technician apply a weak electrical current to the area to cause sweating. A person may feel tingling in the area, or a feeling of warmth. This part of the test lasts about five minutes.

The second part of the test consists of cleaning the area and collecting the sweat on a piece of filter paper or gauze or in a plastic coil. Thirty minutes later, the collected sweat is sent to a hospital laboratory to measure how much chloride is in the sweat.

This sweat test takes about an hour, but it may take longer. When you schedule the test, ask how long it will take and when will you be told the results.

The sweat test has been the “gold standard” for diagnosing cystic fibrosis

My daughter was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis via newborn screening and had a sweat test when she was a couple months old. The test is very easy. Not invasive at all. They just have to place something on her skin and wait a period of time to collect the sweat.

If they are suspecting your child may have CF (or are trying to rule it out) I know this can be a stressful thing to go through. If you have any questions, please feel free to send me a private message.

My daughter doesn't sweat and they did this test on her to see if they could get her to sweat and of course she didn't sweat they are saying what she has is anhidrosis....we are still in the testing phase to try and find out why she doesn't sweat we have been to neurology,genetics,and dermatology and no one knows what is going on she has sweat glands but they don't work so now we are sending her medical records to the mayo clinic in Minnesota to see what the docs there say..it has been a crazy ride so far...good luck please update about what is going on

my oldest had this done when he was a baby (5 or 6days old) and i myself had this test done back in January. are they suspecting Cystic Fibrosis? Patricia has it correct though. put child in the warmest clothing he/she has though cause this will help collect more sweat and pretty much guarantee they get enough sweat. they clean the area first apply things that send a pulse through your arm/leg for five minutes each side. then they take those off and apply premeasured and preweighted gauze wrap that in some thing that reminds me of shrink wrap. then they covered me up in hot blankets and had me sit there for 1 hour. the doctor had the results back that same afternoon. good luck to you and your family.

We had it when my middle one was about 8 months old. They basically just collect sweat over the course of an hour if I recall--it wasn't painful or difficult for us, just a matter of hanging out and keeping the little one warm enough to sweat.

My son had to do it twice, he didn't mind it at all. The first one came just a tad over normal but it wasn't positive so we waited a week and did another one and that was came back below normal and negative, he did have a sinus and chest infection during the first test.

Yup, my son had it done when he was about 14 months old. It is a piece of cake! :)

My son had one when he was a couple weeks old. He tested positive for Cystic Fibrosis in his newborn screening and this was what they did to confirm that he did have. All they did with him was put a type of cream/salve on his foot and then they wrapped it up to make it really warm so that he would sweat. It wasn't very bad at all. It didn't seem to bother/hurt him at all. He had his done at UNMC in Omaha.

Oh god it was a nightmare!

Although it was during one of his hospital stays. I think it was to test for cystic fibrosis? I can't remember what test goes with what anymore.

Anyways, she put these things on his little arms. They are suppose to stimulate the sweat glands. She said that she'd been told it was stingy. Well man did little man squirm and worm. He seemed a bit more than uncomfortable. She did that for oh maybe 2 or 3 mintues. Well anyways once that was done she put these special little things on his arms that collect sweat. She wrapped them real tight. Cranked the heat in the room to about 90 and told us to put him in his snow suit. She also said if she didn't get enough sweat and it happens we'd have to try again later! She kept punching the we needed enough sweat.

Well this is where it gets to be funny/nightmare. The doctors are outside waiting to do rounds but this test is more important so they are all, I'd say 15 doctors, standing there chating and waiting. This therapist came in, can't remember what type, to observe him eating. She was insistant that he do it now because she was busy. Dressed all up and condescending to add to the cherry on top. Well he ate a bit and about 10 mins into his test and 5 after she arrived he projectile vomited on her. It was hilarious. She was already all witchy and now she was covered in baby vomit. Well we had to keep him in the vomit because we needed those results. We waited the five more minutes and started to strip him in the tub. Poor baby! But she got those off ever so carefully and did the test.

Luckily little man came up negitive! So happy a mom and we got enough sweat in the first shot. Again happy mom. But it makes for a funny story. So be forewarned not to feed or give the kid something to drink during. hehe