US researchers describe a man who experienced episodes of painful sweating in the face that occurred spontaneously or when eating certain foods.

The man’s problems began when he had facial warts removed as a teen.

In the medical journal Neurology, Dr. David S. Goldstein, from the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues say the 28-year-old Swiss man began experiencing such episodes more than 15 years ago after receiving medical and surgical treatments for his warts.

Although the painful sweating attacks often just happened on their own, they could be induced by consuming orange juice or pickled onions. A variety of drugs were useful in improving the patient’s symptoms.

After performing several tests, the authors concluded that the wart treatments had destroyed certain nerves in the man’s skin. Over time, the nerves grew back in such a way that they made connections with sweat glands as well as with pain receptors.

Therefore, when stimulated, the nerves produced both sweating and pain.

SOURCE: Neurology, October 26, 2004.