Relief From a Life-Long Battle with Excessive Sweat
By: Baylor College of Medicine
Since childhood, Baylor College of Medicine physician assistant Jessica Salmans suffered with excessive sweating in her hands and feet.
During grade school, she hid paper towels so she wouldn’t soak the work on her desk at school.
In health care, dealing with paperwork and touching patients became the challenge.
“It is something I have had for as long as I remember, and it affected everything in my life,” she said. “Meeting someone and having to shake their hand would make me self conscious, or I would ruin my homework because all the ink would smear.”
Salmans picked outfits based on how well she could wipe her hands off on the clothing during the day. A pair of shoes never lasted very long, because the intense sweating would ruin them.
Thanks to a little-known therapy being offered by a Baylor dermatologist, she has conquered the embarrassing malady and has a new lease on life.
Iontophoresis involves passing a mild electrical current through tap water to shut of the sweat glands temporarily. The hands and feet are soaked in a basin of water for 40 minutes in the comfort of the patients’ home.
“The technology has been around since the 1950s, but it never gained widespread fame, in part because most doctors don’t know it is an option,” said Dr. Ramsey Markus, an assistant professor of dermatology at Baylor. “It is a very safe and effective way to decrease sweating, especially in the hands and feet.”
Salmans started the therapy in December. After only one week of treatments she noticed a difference.
“It’s been remarkable,” she said. “I no longer have a problem with it. I can now shift my focus to where it needs to be and not worry about this. I’m really amazed by it.”
Markus said he prefers Iontophoresis for his patients with sweating in the hands and feet because it is less expensive and less painful than Botox injections, and it can be done regularly as needed in the home. Most patients only require the therapy twice a month to keep the sweat glands from producing excessive sweat.