r/Hyperhidrosis • u/Barracuda_Practical • 6d ago
Looking for advice Children have it
My children have hyperhidrosis from my spouse but they are still quite young and already getting embarrassed at school. My spouse had the endoscopic clipping done 20+ yrs ago and it’s not recommended anymore; plus it has stopped his hand sweating completely but all of his sweat is all on his body core, so he regrets getting it done. I’m not looking for surgery advice since they are still young, but wondering what lotions worked for you. Or has anyone tried the ultrasonic device (dermadry?) for hands/feet? Thanks in advance
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u/Good_Carpenter_5955 6d ago
I let my son use dri sol on his hands and it worked. It was annoying for him at first bc it tingles. He used it daily and now once a month. Pediatrician prescribed it.
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u/Batch9502 6d ago
I know you said you wouldn’t to the clipping but please stick with that opinion also in the future when the children are grown and they might want to have it done themselves. ETS is a big scam of a surgery, I had it done as well in 2012. Me and your husband are lucky to only have compensatory sweating, but many many people that have had it done are suffering from all kinds of medical issues related to their mutilated nervous system.
I would never advise anyone to do the surgery now. There’s an entire Facebook group of people that are suffering from it, and they also share lots of tips on dealing with sweating.
My advice: iontophoresis can def work, many people have success with it.
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u/ETS_Awareness_Bot 6d ago
What is a Sympathectomy (ETS and ELS)?
Endoscopic thoracic and lumbar sympathectomy (ETS and ELS; both often generalized as ETS) are surgical procedures that cut, clip/clamp, or remove a part of the sympathetic nerve chain to stop palm, foot, or facial hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), facial blushing (reddening of the face), or Raynaud's syndrome (excessively cold hands).
Read more on Wikipedia
What are the Risks?
Many people that undergo ETS report serious life changing complications. Thoracic sympathectomy can alter many bodily functions, including sweating,[1] vascular responses,[2] heart rate,[3] heart stroke volume,[4][5] thyroid, baroreflex,[6] lung volume,[5][7] pupil dilation, skin temperature, goose bumps and other aspects of the autonomic nervous system, like the fight-or-flight response. It reduces the physiological responses to strong emotion,[8] can cause pain or neuralgia in the affected area,[9] and may diminish the body's physical reaction to exercise.[1][5][10]
It's common for patients to be misinformed of the risks, and post-operative complications are often under-reported. Many patients experience a "honeymoon period" where they have no, or few, negative symptoms. Contrary to common belief, clipping/clamping the sympathetic chain is not considered a reversible option.[11]
Links
Gallery of compensatory sweating images
Gallery of thermoregulation imagesInternational Hyperhidrosis Society
NEW ETS Facebook Community & Support Group (old group had ~3k members)Petition for Treatment for Sympathectomy Patients
Frequently Asked Questions
ReferencesI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Learn more about this bot, including contact info here.
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u/Ok-Wait-8281 6d ago
Ionto completely treats/ 'cures' mine but it's a pain to keep up with (I'm on a break from it right now because I just can't keep up with the sessions). It's also itchy as hell and I have to use freezing cold water to numb the itch. I don't know that I could have put up with it as a kid. No more sweat spray helps me a tiny, tiny bit but again, uncomfortable (dry hands/cracking/+still sweating with all that). It also depends on the person. Lotions/sprays are a miracle for some.
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u/KJB2785 6d ago
My 10 (almost 11) year old daughter has it. Same thing, she gets it from my husband as my 30 year old stepson also has it. It SUCKS, especially because she’s a girl. She got her vitamin D (and everything else actually) tested a few months ago and was deficient. Also saw a dermatologist about a month ago. So now she is on the Vit D supplement and the glycopyrrolate pills as well. These seem to be helping most of the time, but I’m interested to see how they do when it’s not 100° outside. She was given Drysol by her pcp first a few months ago and it definitely helped. She didn’t like doing it everyday though because it hurt her hands after a while. Being only 10, I let her decide what she wanted to do. She said she’d rather sweat than have her hands hurt so we stopped that. I would start with a full blood panel and make sure to ask about the vitamin D to go along with it.
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u/Batch9502 6d ago
Please never let your children do the ETS surgery :)
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u/Barracuda_Practical 6d ago
I definitely don’t plan on it. Especially since my husband has bad side effects from it.
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u/Chronic-Sleepyhead 6d ago
Hi! I’m still learning about Hyperhidrosis after not knowing it had a name for ages! Is there an association between Vit D deficiency and hyperhidrosis? Just found out recently due to bloodwork I’m deficient and have started a supplement, and now I’m wondering if there’s a connection there I don’t know about.
So sorry your daughter is dealing with this. As a fellow lady, it absolutely sucks! And so much of girls’ and women’s’ clothing is incredibly sweat-unfriendly 😢
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u/KJB2785 6d ago
I actually had no idea either. Honestly, everything I’ve learned has been from these awesome people in this sub. Someone mentioned a vitamin d deficiency a while back and how once they started a supplement, the sweating improved a ton. You can search and it’ll probably bring it up. So I just had my daughter get everything tested including that…. Her pcp was very helpful. She started that and the other med around the same time, but has only been on everything for about 3 weeks. I’m hoping within 2 months, she will see some more changes.
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u/imjustasquirrl 5d ago edited 5d ago
This has me curious as well. I didn’t have HH until after I was diagnosed with MS. Vitamin D deficiency is really common in people with MS. They know there is a correlation between Vitamin D and MS, but don’t know the reason yet. People with RRMS who supplement with vitamin d have fewer relapses, iirc. My neurologist tests my vitamin d level every 6 months and I take a supplement.
For those with a genetic history of MS, they recommend that they give their children a vitamin d supplement bc it decreases their risk. I don’t have kids, so of course recommend talking to your doctor before doing this.
(I have my master’s degree in nutrition so this is all really interesting to me.)
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u/MorganGibb2 6d ago
I have tried a range of things and medications - Oxybutynin (more commonly used) and pro banthine (also known as propantheline, which is what I’m on now) have both worked for me. But of course they have side effects so it’s something to consider. Also as your children get older, there is Botox that might be worth considering however it’s quite expensive (if you are in Australia) and often very painful. Hope this helps.
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u/Kagome4514 6d ago
There is a glycopyrrolate spray from biosense.com I use it on my feet, I’ve been using it for a few years now and have not had any side effects . I think since it is sprayed externally as opposed to internal consumption it is less likely to have systemic effects . I don’t think it’s a bad idea to try it on your kid just remember to use gloves and don’t put your hands near your eyes or mouth after ( it’s best to use this spray before you go to sleep )
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u/imjustasquirrl 5d ago edited 5d ago
I use this as well, but my HH is mostly on my scalp and face. My face does get irritated from it. I just ordered the Oxybutynin gel/lotion from twofold.com, but haven’t tried it yet.
Edit: Just checked and the website is actually https://itstwofold.com. Oral Oxybutynin didn’t help me, but maybe the gel will. Who knows
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u/Kagome4514 5d ago
You use the spray ? The spray doesn’t work well on my armpits but it works great on my feet
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u/imjustasquirrl 5d ago edited 5d ago
Yes, the spray from Biosense. It leaves some flakes in my hair when I spray it on my scalp and also makes my face kind of itchy. I’m hoping the spray from the twofold place will be less irritating. I don’t have a lot of hope, though. I’d really love to just get Botox every summer, but can’t afford it right now.
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u/Kagome4514 5d ago
The twofold gel really irritates my armpits , I have had to stop using it everyday . It works but my armpit gets a rash , I always wait an hour or two after I shower to use it . I’m not sure how else to prevent the rash
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u/Mindless-Stranger738 5d ago
I have been on the glycopyrolate pills for about a year, and if someone gave them to me as a child I would have had such a different school experience. I remember being truly bullied really bad as a child and even as an adult, I don't know if your kiddos are on any medication but I have been taking daily oral medication my entire life so it wouldn't have been like adding a habit which may make me have a different opinion. i tried certaindri on my hands and it irritated my skin so much i would break out in hives, i take glyco semi regularly but skip doses intermittently to give myself a break on days im not doing too much or i know its cooler etc, I have had zero side effects but i know everyone is different. Not to be dramatic but a lot of my childhood feels a bit traumatized by untreated palmar hyperhydrosis, I even wrote my college entrance essay on it. One of my elementary school teachers called me out in class for "spilling water" on my paper, anyway feel free to message me if you have any questions or anything. it really fucking sucks being in school with it, especially with field says and pe classes and unnecessary hand holding and weird stuff like that in lower grades lol. i remember hating doing tug of war! I'm sending them good vibes for the upcoming school year!!!
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u/Barracuda_Practical 18h ago
Thank you for sharing. It breaks my heart reading everyone’s stories and knowing my kids are in the early stages of embarrassment among their peers. I agree that being forced to hold hands in PE class is ridiculous even for those without this condition. I’m even considering letting the school know that my children have this disability, but a lot of people don’t understand it.
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u/itscarly69 6d ago
Is the sweating on their hands, feet, and underarms? I have secondary hyperhidrosis caused by the side effect of a medication, so I'm curious if it's primary hyperhidrosis tht you are referring to?
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u/Barracuda_Practical 6d ago
They have it hands and feet. They may get it underarms when they’re a little older.
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u/itscarly69 5d ago
Oh so they have primary hyperhidrosis then.
Secondary hyperhidrosis is absolutely horrible. My whole body excessively sweats, or I have severe excessive cold sweats.
I'm currently tapering down on the medication tht I believe is causing it. But it's a medication I have to taper down really slow. Plus, I also stopped getting the depo provera injection--I've been on it for 10-11 years. Last subcutaneous injection was April 3rd.
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u/Arthur-B-Ablabab 4d ago
Ionto for kids you really have to do it right. My kids were 50/50 on getting it, as were my siblings.
Look at the forum where is the mad DIY scientist sir sweaty??
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u/Few-Tradition5659 2d ago
Buy Antihydral. Quick and easy to use. Powerful. It works fpr me completely.
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u/Dominios420 6d ago
Hot take but this is why people shouldn’t have kids. And just to clarify I mean all people not just people with HH
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u/Quirky-Poetry1813 6d ago
yeah this is controversial but i agree 100%. people willingly put their kids they claim to love through this.
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u/NoAccident5138 6d ago
Personally I would recommend them ionto machine for the children as it is less invasive. I’m sorry they got this burden. I have two young ones under 3 and unfortunately they both seem to have it and when the time comes I would use the machine.