Hyperhidrosis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
I suffered from Hyperhidrosis for years, since I was a little kid (so about 40+ years). I've always had sweaty hands and feet, my Dad had it too, and my little niece is already showing signs of it (she's 7 years old now). For me, it occurred most noticeably when I was in a pressurised situation (meeting new people, meeting old friends, anything that involved shaking hands or being nervous). Every Summer, both palms of both hands would totally shed one layer of skin, bit by bit. It's totally debilitating, socially, which is why so many people who have it never talk about it, share their problem, or even seek treatment. It's only recently begun to be talked about and recognised on radio/TV etc.
As one small example, imagine going for a job interview you know you can ace, and offering a 'wet fish' to your prospective new employer. You can see it in their eyes - "you just lost 10 points mate. If you're THAT nervous, you've obviously got something to hide and you're not going to handle the pressure around here". That's what your mind does to you when you can't control your own body functions.
Cutting the thoracic sympathetic nerve (see the Wiki link), which is what many modern surgeries attempt, work OK usually for the main problem. Big issues occur in a percentage of cases that then get compensatory sweating (back, armpits for example), where the problem elevates to be actually worse than it was prior to surgery. A real Russian Roulette game.
Good news is - it can be controlled, but not necesarily with surgery. For me, hypnosis was the key. Although there's good evidence my primary hyperhydrosis is genetic based, hypnosis beat away the fears I had of these symptoms (after only 1 session) and without doing anything else, almost stopped all sweating of my palms during normal activities. I have had very few problems since. When I'm training I wear gloves and there is a small amount of sweat then, but no more than anyone else probably has. Best news is when I'm playing with my child, touching my girl, or meeting friends, I'm no longer 'fish palms' every time.
My advice is go see a doctor with experience with this, or a hypnotist first, consider surgery
last.
PM me if I can help in any way?
