Sweaty Hands! Options...

[skillzx3]

This post is about what I have tried and how it has worked. I am looking for input (to increase the effectiveness of my regimens), and maybe this will even help a few individuals in what they can do to alleviate their sweating.
My sweating is predominantly a problem in my hands, yes my feet also sweat profusely, but who cares (they don't create an odor, so no biggie, theyre never subject to contact with others). My armpits also sweat a little bit more than average, but that's no problem really. My back as well, but meh, I can live with having the occasional sweaty back. Fortunately (or perhaps unfortunately, the problem is with my hands).

The sweating in my hands is probably at a 8 out of 10 in terms of severity. They always sweat, except at night, and in the morning, so before and after I sleep... and in the cold they don't sweat, and sometime if I'm really, really into my zone, they don't sweat. So these are the things I have done so far to combat the sweat.

Normal Antiperspirant : DID ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!
Drysol, and Driclor (I tried both) : Hands were dry for maybe 5 minutes after I woke up, then no difference. I tried the seran wrap thing, did the glove thing, applied for 2 weeks straight. It didn't do anything for me. It's funny, I find zero irritation with these supposedly irritating solutions.
Dehydral - This Worked! (sort of). It dried my whole hand, except my finger tips and the bottom of my hand, paralell to the pinky (like the corner of ur hand on the pinky side). And it lasted forever, I applied it for a week, lasted 3 weeks. Although it made my hands sort of yellow, and it didn't dry my finger tips, this was a winner. BUT I need my fingertips to be dry, I avidly play the piano.
Iontophoresis : DID NOT WORK FOR ME! I made a homemade device. Probably have done over 100+ sessions in my life so far (yes i was desperate). I have changed the plates (pie pans and plates) many times, I have amped up the volatge to around 90 Volts (I know you should only go 30 Volts max, I was desperate, and I have a huge pain tolerance) I bought different types of mineral waters, added saturated amounts of salt and baking soda, hooked it up to a multimeter to ensure I was getting adequate mA. (sometimes up to 60mA!!!). AND GUESS WHAT! NOTHING. NOTHING. NOTHING. So frusterating for it not to work, seems like it works for everyone but me, like I did not even get the slightest amount of dryness of it, and my case is not even that severe. Pity.

Tell me if you happen to know why my fingertips still sweat, no matter what I do.
Do you think a higher concentration of aluminum content will do anything?
Can the active ingredient in Dehydral be obtained seperately, as to make a higher concentration solution?
Iontophoresis, is there something I'm missing?

And feel free to ask me questions.

 

[Brightinfinity]

Maybe you could buy an iontophoresis machine? Sometimes homemade machines don't work as well.
RA Fischer sells them, but you need a prescription from a doctor first. There are also some tips for iontophoresis here.

Speaking of playing the piano, one time, my hands were totally dry (I had just woken up) and I tried playing, and my fingers kept slipping off the black keys. It was much worse than the slipping the sweat causes.
You should try playing just after you wake up or whenever your hands are dry, and see how that affects your performance, to see whether you really want your hands completely dry or not.

 

[HH Assassin]

I play guitar and had tried something a while back called Robinul. I'm not sure if you're familiar with it but it's a pill; it worked pretty good for me.

This was years ago when I had to give myself a self-diagnosis and tell the doctor what to prescribe me because no one knew what in sam hill was going on or how to label this weird condition I have. Anyways, I found Robinul worked pretty good. I started by taking 3 pills a day then tapered off to like once a day. I think I'm like a 7 or 8 (out of 10) in terms of HH severity; the biggest nuisance being in my hands. There are side effects to using Robinul like dehydration, sometimes constipation and sometimes blurred vision (not serious though) but I think most of us would gladly trade in our HH for all of the above.

But yeah, with Robinul, you may not ever play professionally (I personally don't care, not trying to be a rock star here) but you will at least minimize feelings of frustration when you're playing alone or here and there with friends.

As for me, I haven't really tried any treatments since then...must've been like almost ten years ago; I was right out of high school and I am at an age now where I care way less about what people think of me. I just play my guitar by myself but it can get very annoying trying to play with HH, which is why I have begun searching for a full proof treatment now after a decade of just accepting it.

I hope it works out for you. I will be posting my experiments and whatnot on this site in coming days...or weeks...or months...or whenever I get around to it. I have a meeting with a dermatologist on Thursday; let's see what they say...

 

[Little Fern]

skillzx3, your HH sounds really like mine. This makes me feel excited about the Dehydral I've just ordered! Maybe it will work as well for me as it has for you! After living with this for my whole life and only recently learning the name of the condition and that treatments exist at all (!!!), I will be so happy if I get the results you described. Heck, sounds like even if the fingertips aren't 100% dry, the dreaded handshake would be easier for you, am I right? Also, I have heard that with Dehydral, one's hands can get so dry that moisturizing them becomes necessary. And that one's hands will get wrinkly in water. Have you found this to be true for you?

 

[Sprawling]

skillzx3 -- Your Ionto may have not have worked do to the water. Bottled water of any type usually will do nothing, as will adding salt, baking soda etc. Mixing Well Water, Spring Water (from the spring), rain water, sea or ocean water, pond, stream or any type of water from it's original source can do wonders for ionto treatment.

I know I have said this before and I'll keep saying it. If I can have 1 person find success who did not have success before with ionto, it would make me very happy. If it was not for theses boards, I'd be a dripping mess.

 

[skillzx3]

Little Fern - Yes, hopefully Dehydral works out for you as well (just give it a couple days for it to kick in, I'd say around 5.. maybe 7 days before it really is in full gear. And yes, there were points were my hands 'appeared' to be too dry (my finger tips, and select areas were still sweating). I even got this for the first time in my life, after giving a high five ``do you need some lotion, you`re hands are dry`` And yes, they do get extremely wrinkly in the shower.
.....BUT, as of later.. I think the effects have been sort of wearing off. Maybe I`m developing immunity (but I know for a fact that if I do not use the stuff for a while, the effectiveness comes back).
Good Luck.

Sprawling - My life would be changed if I achieved dry hands. I am goin to give your idea a go. I`ll inform you about the results when I`m finished. Thanks for the suggestion.