I’ll admit it. I’m a sweat-hog. My palms have been sweating since childhood – I remember dreading the “sign of peace” handshake during mass at Catholic school – and I am 100% it’s mostly mental at this point but I still can’t shake it. So tomorrow I’m going to get Botox treatment, which apparently works for about 9 months. My CrunchQuestion is this – how did you treat your sweaty palms? Have you tried this weird iontophoresis technique? There’s a video after the jump.
Wikipedia sez:
Iontophoresis is a non-invasive method of propelling high concentrations of a charged substance, normally medication or bioactive agents, transdermally by repulsive electromotive force using a small electrical charge applied to an iontophoretic chamber containing a similarly charged active agent and its vehicle. To clarify, one or two chambers are filled with a solution containing an active ingredient and its solvent, termed the vehicle. The positively charged chamber, termed the anode will repel a positively charged chemical, while the negatively charged chamber, termed the cathode, will repel a negatively charged chemical into the skin.
Iontophoresis is well classified for use in transdermal drug delivery. Unlike transdermal patches, this method relies on active transportation within an electric field. In the presence of an electric field electromigration and electroosmosis are the dominant forces in mass transport. These movements are measured in units of chemical flux.
I’ve tried all of the prescription strength antiperspirants and none worked. If I can save some money and may my own iontophoresis machine, however, I might be home free. Thoughts?
my nephew suffers from excessive sweaty palms… he’s killed 3 nintendo ds’s.. he’s really bummed (2nd graders are a tough bunch)
John, don’t do it! Your palms will not be able to express emotions anymore!
The only emotions they express now are fear and nervousness.
Was it mentioned about how long the treatment lasts after the end of the initial 5-day program or how often booster treatments are necessary? It seems not, although the video seems cuts off at the end. That would be useful information for those afflicted. Guess there’s Google, though….
An acquaintance of mine with sweaty palms told me that it was quite problematic when taking a test in school…as the perspiration would smear the test papers. That would make test-taking even more unnerving. It’s hard enough taking a test when one has a running nose and one needs to keep one’s head down to look at the test (and not give the appearance of cheating).
Most of us have no idea such problems exist nor how problematic they can be for those inflicted. My demon is a rather low ability to recognize faces, which most people just causually (and ignorantly) chalk up to inattention. Anyway, it’s good to hear that there may be some treatment options (Botox & Iontophoresis) for those with sweaty palms.
Afflicted, I meant. Okay…Googled the above and found the following:
“The process is repeated every other day for five to ten days or until sweating is reduced to a comfortable level. Once the desired dryness has been achieved, patients are switched to a maintenance schedule, ranging from once per week to once every four weeks, depending on the individual.”
http://www.sweathelp.org/English/PFF_Treatment_Iontophoresis.asp
That kind of treatment frequency sounds practical enough to make this treatment program worth looking into for those inflict…eh…afflicted.
I have the same problem and tried iontophoresis, ended up paying about $1200 dollars to the doctor for 6 sessions (The machine costs around $500 !) and it wasn’t covered by my insurance. However the real bummer was that it didn’t work at all for me, the doc said that it works on 96% of the people, I guess I am among the unlucky 4%. Botox injections sound scary to me, so haven’t tried em yet ..
i suffer from excessive sweating of the face. i always have. i win “sweatiest guy” polls just from the face.
this would be difficult for that, i think.. hm. scuba gear and rubber eye covers?
My sympathies, Gautam. One would not spend so much if they didn’t really have a troublesome problem…and i’m sorry that it was effective for you. I’m guessing that we can probably assume that the 96% success rate was a bit or an exaggeration. But I’m glad that you let us know that it doesn’t always work. That’s useful information on this topic. Thanks.
“wasn’t effective,” i meant, and “bit of an exaggeration,” which might be an understatement.