Hi everyone!
I need advice on how to deal with my hyperhidrosis. My hands sweat a lot which is terrible.
Next week I will have to shake hands with a lot of people on my new job. I was thinking about wearing gloves. But I'm not sure if that is the best thing I could do.
I hope to read about how you would deal with this.
Thanks in advance!
I've suffered from severe palmar HH my whole life, and typically just wipe my hands off as best I can before shaking others' hands. I generally still give them a clammy handshake, but a few things that have helped:
1. Wearing a jacket or long-sleeve shirt with extra-long sleeves that I can pull partially over my palm (the ones with the thumbholes integrated into the sleeves are the best) can help in situations where I'll be shaking lots of hands.
2. You might be restricted in the kinds of clothes you can wear for this work event, but if possible, have some kind of cotton or equally absorbent material (even a small hand towel concealed in a jacket pocket) that you can use to wipe your hands dry. A lot of synthetic "business" type clothing is not optimal for drying hands off on, so take that into account.
3. All of the treatment methods here are certainly worth exploring, too, if you have time to do so before next week. Robinul (glycopyrrolate) would be the quickest fix, though it requires a prescription.
4. This is a super avoidant method, but if you're feeling extra self conscious and don't want to have to explain your HH every time you shake someone's hand, you could consider carrying with you a bottle or glass of ice-cold water. That way, you can blame your wet or clammy hands on the bottle.
Hope that's all helpful. Congrats on the new job, and good luck!