Ionotophoresis

Ionotophoresis manages to reduce the effects of hyperhidrosis by sending electrical signals in the sweat glands, thus disrupting their process and diminishing the excessive sweat. The method of applying Ionotophoresis implies that the affected area of a patient’s body is placed under water and then passing a small electrical charge through the skin.

Depending on your doctor, it may be very expensive to have this procedure done, but thanks to the video below, it’s a snap to build your own Ionotophoresis device!

The less severe forms of excessive sweating may be cured using this method. The process itself is time consuming and the treatment needs to be repeated indefinitely. The initial treatment time goes up to 20 minutes and is then adapted to the patient’s needs. The continual treatment represents a major disadvantage of this method. Many patients feel like they are spending too much time with a treatment that does not guarantee a complete recovery.

On the other hand, Ionotophoresis has very few side effects. Patients sometimes report slight pain in the affected areas, especially in the initial stages of the treatment. Areas affected by it may crack or show a heightened level of dryness. Doctors usually reduce the treatment frequency and duration when this occurs.

Hyperhydrosis Acupuncture

Acupuncture may help those suffering from excessive perspiration. No one is sure what causes excessive sweating has to do with the sweat glands over reacting to both temperature and emotional stress. The cause of secondary hyperhydrosis can be attributed to issues such as Panic Attacks, Anxiety Disorders, Hyperthyroid, Hypothyroid, Caner, Menopause and Obesity.

Methods of treatment are abundant, some are extreme such as surgery and others natural, such as acupuncture. Hyperhydrosis Acupuncture has been said to be successful in the treatment of excessive sweating.

Chinese medicine, such as hyperhydrosis acupuncture, is often over looked by western medicine and may be worth pursuing before attempting surgery or prescriptions. Acupuncture originated in China more than 2,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest and most commonly used medical procedures in the world.

What is Hyperhydrosis Acupuncture?

Acupuncture became better known in the United States in 1971, when New York Times reporter James Reston wrote about how doctors in China used needles to ease his pain after surgery. It is rumored that around this time frame is when hyperhydrosis acupuncture was also introduced to western society.

The term acupuncture describes a family of procedures involving stimulation of anatomical points on the body by a variety of techniques; it stimulates points directly related to excessive sweating. American practices of acupuncture incorporate medical traditions from China, Japan, Korea, and other countries. The acupuncture technique that has been most studied scientifically involves penetrating the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are manipulated by the hands or by electrical stimulation.

What does Hyperhydrosis acupuncture feel like?

Acupuncture needles are metallic, solid, and hair-thin. People experience hyperhydrosis acupuncture differently, but most feel little or no pain as the needles are inserted. Some people are energized by treatment, while others feel relaxed. Improper needle placement, movement of the patient, or defects in the needle can cause soreness and pain during treatment and is a prime example of why it’s important to seek treatment from a qualified hyperhidrosis acupuncture practitioner.

Is acupuncture safe?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved hyperhidrosis acupuncture needles for use by licensed practitioners in 1996. The FDA requires that sterile, nontoxic needles be used and that they be labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only.

Relatively few complications from the use of hyperhydrosis acupuncture have been reported to the FDA in light of the millions of people treated each year and the number of acupuncture needles used. Still, complications have resulted from inadequate sterilization of needles and from improper delivery of treatments. When not delivered properly, acupuncture can cause serious adverse effects, including infections and punctured organs.

Health care practitioners can be a resource for referral to acupuncturists for hyperhydrosis. More medical doctors, including neurologists, anesthesiologists, and specialists in physical medicine, are becoming trained in hyperhidrosis acupuncture, TCM, and other CAM therapies.

Check a hyperhydrosis practitioner’s credentials.

An acupuncture practitioner specializing in excessive sweating, who is licensed with credentials may provide better care than one who is not. About 40 states have established training standards for acupuncture certification, but states have varied requirements for obtaining a license to practice acupuncture.

Hyperhidrosis Glossary

Antiperspirants:
A commercial product available in almost all supermarkets and shops to help with the normal signs and products of sweating including odor and dampness. There is normally a huge range to choose from, manufactured by several companies including variations in scent and dryness levels. It is possibly to find medicated versions for cases of severe sweating beyond normal levels

Apocrine Gland:
One of two types of sweat gland, located in several places including the armpits, face and groin. The sweat produced is normally oil based as opposed to common water based sweat and is rarely affected by Sympathectomy.

Axillary Sweating:
A sweat that is often brought on by a physiological factors, including exercise and also large anxiety levels. Some people are affected by severe sweating, this can be minimized by using antiperspirant or in special cases surgery.

Botox:
The common name given to a toxin extracted from Botulism Toxin which is often used to reduce wrinkling, especially around the eyes.

Bromhidrosis:
A medical term that describes excessive sweating from glands, secreting a darker and worse smelling sweat than usual.

Clipping:
A method used in Sympathectomy where nerve endings that call for the production of Sweat are clamped using titanium clips so that the signal will not reach the glands. This process is reversible and as such is favored by many people over other methods.

Compensatory Sweating:
When sweat occurs on parts of the body where it is unusual, often on the shoulders or thighs. Almost all sufferers who use Sympathectomy will suffer from this after treatment, although only 1 in 20 would call it severe.

Cutting:
A method of Sympathectomy where the nerves are cut, this can be carried out in many ways including removal of a segment of nerve or a simple scalpel incision.

Drionic:
A name given to an iontophoresis machine, where the normal processes of the sweat glands are disrupted by small electrical pulses delivered by the machine. Whilst some users report success many others have not found it helpful and regular treatment with the machine is required.

Drysol:
A treatment produced commercially that consists of aluminum chloride in an organic solvent that is used by severe sweat sufferers. It should be applied when the area is dry and is available over the counter in many shops and pharmacies; however there have been some minor side effects reported.

Eccrine Gland:
One of two types of sweat gland, known to produce water based sweat that has a minimal odor and is normally colorless. These are affected by Sympathectomy and cover most of your bodies’ plantar surfaces.

Electrocautery:
A term used for the destruction of tissue or blood vessels, there are two types of instrument, mono and bi polar, the end result is the same.

Endoscopic:
Often termed “key-hole” surgery, it is a procedure performed by cutting only a small slit and using specialized tools and methods.

Erythrophobia:
A phobia of social interaction, often causes rashes or red patches as well as blotchiness. These symptoms often cause anxiety in sufferers and this in turn increases the phobia.

ETS – Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy:
A medical procedure in which the sympathetic chains that link glands are cut or clamped. Only a small incision is made compared to older procedures where open surgery was needed and the patient suffered for longer.

Flushing:
Sufferers experience mild warm areas, normally on the face, no redness or blotches appear unlike blushing

Ganglia:
A mass of nerve cells or nerve tissue, often linking sympathetic cells together.

Gustatory Sweating:
The production of sweat from the face when or after eating, especially hot and spicy foods. It is especially common in those that have been treated using Sympathectomy.

Hemothorax:
A situation where there is loose blood with in the chest cavity, very unusual and associated with major trauma, may be life threatening although it can be solved via a chest tube relatively quickly.

Horner Syndrome:
A reaction to Sympathectomy that results in the falling of the higher eye lid, narrowed pupils as well as a dry eyeball. This is very rare and occurs less now then when open surgery was performed.

Hyperhidrosis:
Excessive sweat from the body including areas such as the groin and feet, it is unusual and consists of more sweat than is needed for thermoregulation with in the body.

Hyperhidrosis Surgery:
Sympathectomy is surgery to correct Hyperhidrosis and can include ETS

Kuntz Nerve:
A misleading name with in Sympathectomy, Kuntz Nerve has only been found in cats, however it is often used as a cause of high failure rates with in humans, sometimes in the context of Sympathectomy.

Neurotransmitters:
A cell with in your body that when stimulated releases an impulse that acts as a catalyst for a nerve action.

Nerve Graft:
The name given to a procedure where a nerve has been accidentally severed or cut and must be replaces using a nerve graft. Often the graft is taken from nerve tissue with in the ankle.

Palmar Hyperhidrosis:
A medical term used to describe excessive sweating from the hand or your palms. This can often be traced back to overactive sympathetic cells in the chest and is associated with anxiety and a rapid heart rate.

Parasympathetic:
Part of the involuntary nervous system, the other part is called the sympathetic and together these are considered to be the autonomous nervous system.

Perspiration:
The action of sweat being produced by the body onto body surfaces so they will evaporate and transfer heat away from the skin, cooling itself down, it is part of the bodies thermoregulation.

Plantar Sweating:
Similar to Palmar Sweating and uses the same mechanism except it relates to feet, it is common to those with plantar Hyperhydrosis in 8 out of ten people.

Pneumothorax:
A medical term used when there is loose air with in the chest cavity, normally caused by severe trauma such as a shooting or stabbing or an accident in surgery such as cutting a lung.

Robinul:
A medication which stops the stimulation of sweat glands in palmar hydrosis.

Rosacea:
The name given to a skin condition where there are broken blood vessels that can damage the texture and quality of skin in the facial area.

Sympathetic:
Part of the involuntary nervous system, the other part is called the parasympathetic and together these are considered to be the autonomous nervous system.

T2 T3 T4 Levels:
Used to describe at which point the sympathetic nerve is being cut, T2 is the second level rib and so on.

Titanium Clips:
The clips applied to nerve cells in Sympathectomy to stop the stimulation of sympathetic gland cells, they are made from Titanium to minimize allergic reactions or infections.

Varicose Veins:
The enlargement and imposition of veins, often in the legs as they come closer to the surface, can be brought on by long periods of sitting down, such as on airplanes.

Antiperspirants

The action of this medication targets the apocrine and eccrine sweat glands and reduces their production. Antiperspirants constitute a milder and less efficient method of diminishing the negative effects of hyperhidrosis. Many patients notice that the available commercial non-medical antiperspirants don’t produce the desired effects. Deodorants designed for this purpose also manage to help contain excessive sweating, but they do not eliminate the problem. Probably the most efficient over the counter product is Aluminum Chloride, which, in high concentration, has a more powerful impact.

Drysol is an antiperspirant containing 20% Aluminum Chloride and anhydrous ethyl alcohol. It is mostly used to treat excessive underarm sweating and palmar hyperhidrosis. It is moderately effective and as a side effect it may cause serious skin irritation. The medicine is applied to the areas affected by hyperhidrosis and is left there for six hours. It is recommended that the drug is applied at night, before going to sleep and then washed off in the morning. Long term results are not satisfactory, even though the initial effects are positive.

Another medical antiperspirant used in treating hyperhidrosis is Xertac AC. Obadan and Maxim are also commonly used to treat excessive sweating, but they are not as efficient as Drysol. Solutions based on ethanol, formalin and tannic acid are also used to treat hyperhidrosis but they are known to produce skin irritation. These antiperspirants work best when applied at night, when the negative manifestations of hypderhidrosis are reduced. The best curative effects for palmar hyperhidrosis are obtained when the antiperspirants are used in a combination with plastic gloves

Stronger antiperspirants such as Drysol, ArmsUp, WhipWetless lotion, Odaban, Mitchum Clear Gel Sport and gel base AICI can be used to control profuse sweating.

A few popular drugs commonly taken under the care of a physician are Probanthine, Prpranolol SR and Xanax.

Profuse Sweating

Dry me a river: They are fighting a battle against profuse sweating

By Zakir Hussain NEW YORK TIMES NEWS SERVICE
May 10, 2005

Each time Sophia Parente held the hand of her 5-year-old son, Vincent, he pulled away and said, “Ew, it’s gross, Mummy.”

“He’d wipe his little hands off while crossing the road,” Parente said.

At social events, she would have “that sinking inside feeling” when people wiped their hands after shaking hers. When she could, she would hold a glass of cold water so she had an excuse for why her hands were wet.

Then in March, Parente, 30, a middle-school teacher in Virginia Beach, Va., began receiving Botox injections in her palms. Now, they no longer drip. And Vincent doesn’t let go.

Parente is one of nearly 8 million Americans who perspire profusely. Theirs is an obscure medical condition, hyperhidrosis, which is getting more attention thanks to a group of doctors who in 2003 formed the International Hyperhidrosis Society, a nonprofit organization in Philadelphia.

The society recently launched a “Know Sweat” awareness campaign to help sufferers realize that they are not alone. Its Web site, www.sweathelp.org, explains treatment options and provides a database of over 500 physicians throughout the United States, Canada and the world.

“This is the message that we’re trying to get out,” said Dr. David Pariser, president of the society, who has a practice in Norfolk, Va. “To tell people it is not normal to sweat all the time.”

A recent survey sponsored by the society found that 88 percent of those diagnosed with hyperhidrosis had endured negative social reactions from others like disgust or mockery. One recent survey showed that 12 percent of Americans said they perspired a lot all the time. Of these, 83 percent had not seen a doctor about their condition, mainly because they didn’t think they had a problem or because they didn’t think anything could be done about it.

“When they have a problem that interferes with their life, that’s sweating too much,” said Dr. Flor Mayoral, a dermatologist in Miami. “People will say ‘no’ to a social event, they would isolate themselves, they may not go to church or, when they go, they don’t shake people’s hands.”

Hyperhidrosis results from overactive sweat glands and is not related to weight, ethnicity or climate, said Dr. Heidi Waldorf, director of laser and cosmetic dermatology at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York. It usually affects the underarms, palms, face and soles of the feet, and commonly begins in adolescence. People who perspire all over the body may have other medical conditions, she said.

Far more damaging to many sufferers than the inconvenient physical manifestations are the ridicule, embarrassment and anxiety that accompany them. This is particularly difficult for children.

“They may feel uncomfortable raising their hands in class, and the teacher might think they’re not interested,” said Dr. Kathryn Connor, a psychiatrist at Duke University who has seen young hyperhidrosis patients.

That was the case for Frances Rivers, 16, who found it nerve-racking to be around people. She could barely hold a pen in class without wiping her hands every few minutes and wore three layers of clothes to hide sweat marks under her arms. Last October, the high school student in Virginia Beach demanded that her parents arrange treatment.

Rivers’ mother, Felecia, searched the Internet and discovered a specialist who administered Botox injections on her daughter’s underarms. He also prescribed iontophoresis, a procedure where a water bath is used to conduct a mild electric current through the skin. Almost immediately, her symptoms went away.

People who think they sweat too much should locate a dermatologist to help them explore treatment options, said Pariser. One common approach is surgery that prevents nerve signals from being transmitted to sweat glands in affected areas. This procedure, however, can prompt profuse perspiration in other previously unaffected parts of the body.

People with hyperhidrosis can use prescription antiperspirants or they can temporarily block sweat glands by iontophoresis. Parente found this time-consuming and not effective. It was then that her dermatologist suggested Botox as an option. Note that you should seek natural cures BEFORE thnking about Botox and understand the risks associated with injections as well!

Botox injections stop the nerves from stimulating sweat glands, said Waldorf. Completed in minutes, these injections need to be repeated after six months. And while they may cost up to $2,000 per treatment, insurance companies are increasingly paying for the procedure if it has been prescribed by a doctor. Last year, the Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Botox for hyperhidrosis.

Not long after Rivers’ injections, she wore a strapless gown to her 10th-grade homecoming party and participated in her school’s pageant. “It just changed my life completely,” she said.

Thank you to Lori Riback for submitting this article and writes:
This was published in the health section of the San Diego paper today and I thought I would pass it along. Thank you, Lori Riback – Tampa Florida.

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