Advice, please :)

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OTGrl

Active member
Hey everyone!
I was looking to get some advice from people who understand what I'm dealing with. I am an occupational therapy student who gets sweaty when I feel like people are watching me. I start my fieldwork in less than a month. This requires me to raise my arms, touch people, etc. I sweat a lot for a girl under my arms and on my hands when I get nervous. I have to wear polos or plain button down shirts. I may even have to wear white ones. I was wondering what tips any of you have for purchasing shirts that do not show underarm marks? I've tried buying undershirts with sewn in pads and I've tried the throw away pads. I've decided that they only make me sweat more! Any ideas on what fabrics and such are best, would be great. Also, my hands only sweat if I know I'll be touching people that I don't know well. Any tips for this? I've seen a psychologist and psychiatrist to try to get rid of my anxiety entirely, but no such luck. I was even on anti-anxiety meds for a little while and no luck there either. I've tried prescription antiperspirant and no luck with those either. Please help me. Thank you :)
 
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ImNotMyIllness

Well-known member
You can try Botox. That should work for you underarms. You hand issue seems more psychological-some type of therapy would probably be best to get to the core of your fear....i.e germs,etc.
 
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Sprawling

Well-known member
I disagree with the above. HH is anything but psychological. It's more physiological. It's an endless cycle of sweat, therefore I'm nervous, therefore I sweat. Getting your hands under control by doing ionto treatments can also impact upon your underarms. Less sweating on the hands can trick the body into thinking it's relaxed and not in fright and flight response.
 
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jaim38

Well-known member
I also sweat easily in the underarms and here are my advice:

1) Shave frequently! The hair in the underarms can trap bacteria which is responsible for the smell. Since you're working with patients, I would say shave at least every 2 days.

2) Have you tried taping panty liners to the insides of your shirts? Some people suggest electric tape but this hurts.
 
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OTGrl

Active member
As someone in the medical field, I would not recommend Botox except for those with spastic muscles such as patients with CP. I do not feel as if you should inject yourself with poison to try to fix something that doesn't absolutely need fixed. If you feel differently, then that's fine; It's just not what I would suggest. I have also tried the whole psychologist thing and it didn't help me. My fear is performance related; I fear what others are thinking of me. This is the classic definition of social anxiety in the DSM-5.

I shave under my arms everyday, so unfortunately I can't try that to help. I also have tried the underarm liners and they just make me hot and sweat more.

Sprawling is correct. I sweat too much one time and got embarrassed and then I began to fear the sweat and so the sweat happened. Awful cycle! Does ionto really work? I've tried similar things with no luck.

Any suggestions for fabrics? Many polos and such have "wick away" properties. Do they actually help?
 
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hyp-hi

Well-known member
For materials you could try the synthetic polyester materials that many of the sports clothes are made of. They will not show the sweat as much as a cotton shirt. Also I find shirts with patterns hide sweat a lot better than solid color shirts.
 
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Sprawling

Well-known member
Ionto can be used on the under arms. Drionic makes an under arm device and so do some of the other brands. It's easy enough to modify any device to work on the under arms. All you need to use is 2 absorbent sponges, one on each side. A positive lead attached to one side, a negative to the other each hooked up to whatever dc power source you are using.
 
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Sprawling

Well-known member
There are lots of back postings on what you can use. E-stim will not be strong enough. I believe that is a micro current device. I know what we had some creative ideas that we talked about during the summer months. Anything from a ac to dc power supply, variable after-market laptop power supply etc.

I personally use an "Ultra G Galvanic Stimulator" because I prefer pulsed current. It's virtually pain free. Prior to that I was using the Fischer MD-1A unit. Ionto usage need not be expensive. Many better options than rigging batteries together.

I always suggest for newbies to read the back postings. Basically everything has been discussed many times over and over again. Members come and go and during the past couple of months lots of members have become in active. This happens with groups.
 
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OTGrl

Active member
elitebook said:
OTGrl are you in med school? I'm guessing MS2?
Click to expand...

Not med school, graduate school for occupational therapy. I have to be able to used PAM (physical agent modalities such as e-stim, ultrasound, parafin wax etc.), I am able to make splints, wrap stumps for amputees, help with gait training, teach coping skills in mental health settings, help people learn to cook again, help little ones with developmental milestones, vision rehabilitation, etc....the list goes on and on. OT pretty much works as a client-centered aspect of rehab in which we allow our patients to help us decide on their goals. For example, if a person in unable to care for their own hygiene, but insists on hiring someone to do so and wants to focus on driving rehab...then our goal will be related to driving. We pretty much help people participate in whatever meaningful activities (occupations) that they want to....we help to create independence and meaning in their lives.
 
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OTGrl

Active member
We also help stroke patients a lot learn to transfer from walker to bed, wheelchair, or whatever they have...and we try to get the affected side to function as close to normal as possible
 
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OTGrl

Active member
My sister, however, is in med school. She plans to be a pediatric oncologist. I have yet to decide which population I am going to work with...geriatrics, pediatrics, adults, mental health...not sure
 
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elitebook

Member
OTGrl said:
Not med school, graduate school for occupational therapy. I have to be able to used PAM (physical agent modalities such as e-stim, ultrasound, parafin wax etc.), I am able to make splints, wrap stumps for amputees, help with gait training, teach coping skills in mental health settings, help people learn to cook again, help little ones with developmental milestones, vision rehabilitation, etc....the list goes on and on. OT pretty much works as a client-centered aspect of rehab in which we allow our patients to help us decide on their goals. For example, if a person in unable to care for their own hygiene, but insists on hiring someone to do so and wants to focus on driving rehab...then our goal will be related to driving. We pretty much help people participate in whatever meaningful activities (occupations) that they want to....we help to create independence and meaning in their lives.
Click to expand...

Ah okay. Being in the medical field myself, I'm familiar with what occupational therapists do :)
 
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