My HH story
Posted: Sun Jan 27, 2013 3:19 am
Unfortunately both my father and my mother suffer from palmo-plantar HH. My mother's HH is moderate and my father has a really bad case of plantar HH. Therefore, I and my sister had very poor chances for escaping sweaty palms and feet. Interestingly enough, none of my grandparents and none of my aunts, uncles, cousins and other relatives has the same problem. My sister's HH is comparable to my mother's sweating. A really bad combination of HH genes caused horrible, constant and excessive sweating of my palms and feet for as long as I can remember.
I was born in 1972 and a large part of my childhood was influenced by constant embarrassment. Even when I was alone I couldn't relax properly as the sweating was ruining everything that I held in my hands. I had to wash my hands religiously, shower several times a day, change socks and shoes. You can imagine the impact of constantly dripping palms and sweaty feet on my social activities and relationships. The doctors told me that that there was nothing they could do to help me. In those days in a socialist country it was impossible to buy even a decent antiperspirant.
When I started working in 1993 I was able to buy some antiperspirants from abroad, however, they were useless. When I started using internet in 1997, it was a true revelation when I found an internet site written by an Italian doctor, who claimed that he could cure palmar HH. You can't imagine my enthusiasm and the relief when I finally found out that there was a possible end to my problems. I had an extensive communication with the Italian surgeon. In several consecutive e-mails he told me about all problems that could follow the ETS. Before the final decision I visited a neurologist and a dermatologist in my home country. The dermatologist was somehow uninterested (he wondered how I could be bothered by such a trivial problem) and the neurologist supported my decision after completing a series of tests (which were all useless, but showed that I am otherwise perfectly healthy). I still remember asking dr. Tarfusser a few minutes before the surgery about the possible unbearable CS following ETS and how I was shaking when he again sincerely answered that there's a certain percentage of people who suffer really badly from CS after ETS and regret the surgery for the rest of their life. I decided for the procedure anyway. The surgery was very simple, there was absolutely no pain afterwards, I left the hospital on the same day and I even visited a large amusement park near Verona on the next day. I had no CS and I was one of those lucky people whose plantar HH improves significantly after the surgery.
The CS started more than a year after ETS. It was somehow benign in the way that it was not present unless I was physically active or the weather was warm & humid. I am a teacher and it was often unpleasant that I had to change two or three undershirts in the course of two or three lectures. However, I was so ecstatic about my dry palms that I considered it an acceptable pay-off. After a few years my plantar HH started to get worse. Luckily, there were some new options available. I started buying a combination of AlCl and salicylic acid from Canada, a very strong 30% antiperspirant from Austria and using a Drionic machine. A combination of rather lengthy and unpleasant treatments prolonged the period of my reasonably dry soles.
About 10 years after the surgery CS started fading away and now, 16 years after ETS, it is almost non-existent. I still sweat much more that my partners when playing squash or badminton, however, I consider it "normal" and socially acceptable. Also, I often get sweaty while sunbathing, however, I can always dip into water an cool myself. CS doesn't bother me at all anymore.
Unfortunately I find it more and more difficult to control my feet sweating. Even if I follow my anti-HH rituals, the results are unpredictable. The feet can be almost completely dry for two or three days, mildly sweaty for another few days and then dripping with sweat for another few days. Fortunately I have an access to medical journals and I've been following the articles about HH for the last 15 years. In the last few years I was surprised to see that the strong opinion against lumbar sympathectomy has changed significantly. After some careful considerations and talks to two neurologists I decided to have ELS at the end of this April. I know that this is a risky decision. However, 41 years of constant problems and embarrassment, a positive experience with ETS, several positive results in the medical literature and communications with people who already had ELS assure me that there's a great chance that the effect of ELS on my body will be positive.
I will keep you informed about the results.
I was born in 1972 and a large part of my childhood was influenced by constant embarrassment. Even when I was alone I couldn't relax properly as the sweating was ruining everything that I held in my hands. I had to wash my hands religiously, shower several times a day, change socks and shoes. You can imagine the impact of constantly dripping palms and sweaty feet on my social activities and relationships. The doctors told me that that there was nothing they could do to help me. In those days in a socialist country it was impossible to buy even a decent antiperspirant.
When I started working in 1993 I was able to buy some antiperspirants from abroad, however, they were useless. When I started using internet in 1997, it was a true revelation when I found an internet site written by an Italian doctor, who claimed that he could cure palmar HH. You can't imagine my enthusiasm and the relief when I finally found out that there was a possible end to my problems. I had an extensive communication with the Italian surgeon. In several consecutive e-mails he told me about all problems that could follow the ETS. Before the final decision I visited a neurologist and a dermatologist in my home country. The dermatologist was somehow uninterested (he wondered how I could be bothered by such a trivial problem) and the neurologist supported my decision after completing a series of tests (which were all useless, but showed that I am otherwise perfectly healthy). I still remember asking dr. Tarfusser a few minutes before the surgery about the possible unbearable CS following ETS and how I was shaking when he again sincerely answered that there's a certain percentage of people who suffer really badly from CS after ETS and regret the surgery for the rest of their life. I decided for the procedure anyway. The surgery was very simple, there was absolutely no pain afterwards, I left the hospital on the same day and I even visited a large amusement park near Verona on the next day. I had no CS and I was one of those lucky people whose plantar HH improves significantly after the surgery.
The CS started more than a year after ETS. It was somehow benign in the way that it was not present unless I was physically active or the weather was warm & humid. I am a teacher and it was often unpleasant that I had to change two or three undershirts in the course of two or three lectures. However, I was so ecstatic about my dry palms that I considered it an acceptable pay-off. After a few years my plantar HH started to get worse. Luckily, there were some new options available. I started buying a combination of AlCl and salicylic acid from Canada, a very strong 30% antiperspirant from Austria and using a Drionic machine. A combination of rather lengthy and unpleasant treatments prolonged the period of my reasonably dry soles.
About 10 years after the surgery CS started fading away and now, 16 years after ETS, it is almost non-existent. I still sweat much more that my partners when playing squash or badminton, however, I consider it "normal" and socially acceptable. Also, I often get sweaty while sunbathing, however, I can always dip into water an cool myself. CS doesn't bother me at all anymore.
Unfortunately I find it more and more difficult to control my feet sweating. Even if I follow my anti-HH rituals, the results are unpredictable. The feet can be almost completely dry for two or three days, mildly sweaty for another few days and then dripping with sweat for another few days. Fortunately I have an access to medical journals and I've been following the articles about HH for the last 15 years. In the last few years I was surprised to see that the strong opinion against lumbar sympathectomy has changed significantly. After some careful considerations and talks to two neurologists I decided to have ELS at the end of this April. I know that this is a risky decision. However, 41 years of constant problems and embarrassment, a positive experience with ETS, several positive results in the medical literature and communications with people who already had ELS assure me that there's a great chance that the effect of ELS on my body will be positive.
I will keep you informed about the results.