5 Tips to Make Iontophoresis Work for Your Hyperhidrosis

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Iontophoresis is one of the promising treatment options for excessive sweat, especially for the palms, and feet. New options/addons are now also being offered for underarm as well as facial areas. And the treatment is also gaining approval from the insurance companies and from the FDA. So the treatment seems to be gaining traction and going mainstream after all those years!

A lot of people who try iontophoresis are very enthused at first, but become quickly disappointed for one reason or other soon. However, I believe that Iontophoresis should work for most people suffering with Hyperhidrosis, and this post is my attempt to provide some specific tips on how to go about doing this.

Tip #1: Have a plan

Yes, that sounds obvious! But in my experience of hearing from multitudes of patients trying iontophoresis for their hyperhidrosis, this is the number one thing that goes wrong. Some start with a very aggressive plan, don't see results and get discouraged quickly. Some others go at it in a too casual a way and of-course it doesn't yield any results.

The current settings, the current type, the session lengths, and the frequency – everything matters and the better you plan and followup on the plan, the more likely it is that iontophoresis will yield the results for you. Get that plan on your Outlook/Google/Mobile calendars to ensure that you don't forget.

I will post a comprehensive plan to go about taking iontophoresis treatments soon. But in the meanwhile, have a plan for yourself which will give you a by-day guideline, and make the plan at-least for 3 months so that you keep going at it even if the results are not there to see. That brings me to the next tip.

Tip #2: Be persistent

Iontophoresis is a bit funny – for some it works after the first setting and for others it takes a lot longer. Why? Nobody knows for sure (because nobody knows for sure why Iontophoresis works for hyperhidrosis in the first place). However, that is often a key factor in people not getting the results out of iontophoresis.

As a quick guide – Iontophoresis usually yields some results within 2 weeks of starting the treatment. However, depending on specific cases, it may take anywhere up to 3 – 4 months before you should discount it as a treatment option for your excessive sweat condition.  So my advice – keep going at it even if it doesn't seem to be giving you the results you have heard others get. Its most likely only a matter of time and dry hands/feet are beautiful things – beautiful enough to be persistent for a bit longer! 🙂

Tip #3:  Experiment

Iontophoresis treatment has several variables – the current, the session length, the type (direct/pulse), the water etc. Usually, the standard settings work for most people. However, if the initial settings do not work for you – don't give up. You can try the following to see if things change:

  • Current – try more stronger current. a higher voltage may be a bit more irritating, but in some cases that may work if the lower standard settings did not work for you.
  • Session length: Normally, 10 -12 minutes sessions are good enough. But you can try to extend the session lengths to upto 20 minutes.
  • Type: Usually, it is said that pulse current works better because it is more comfortable. However, if your iontophoresis machine has an option of direct current, try that – some studies suggest that direct current is more effective.
  • Water: The tap water usually is fine for most cases. However, depending on your water source, it may be worth trying some additives if the iontophoresis treatment is not showing any results. For example – some people have reported better results by adding salt as that apparently increases the conductivity.
  • Anode/Cathode settings: Some studies suggest that Anode tray may be better as compared to the Cathode tray. Not entirely sure why – but you can attempt switching your hands/feet between those two trays to see if that works better for you.

Tip #4:  Monitor

The trick about iontophoresis is that the changes can be incremental, and unless you have a robust monitoring system in place, you will not notice what is working for you and what is not. Have a daily log of your excessive sweat from the day you start your treatments. Its motivating to notice when you start seeing those small improvements and its also instrumental in knowing if its not really working and when you need to experiment.

Think of it as dieting!

Tip #5:  Make yourself accountable

Iontophoresis requires persistence and discipline. And unless you are tremendously self motivated (which you should be – dry hands and feet are something we all dream of – right?), it is easy to let the treatment fell wayside to make time for other priorities in life.

So, do yourself a favor – have an incentive plan (e.g. an ice-cream, candy, a dessert, whatever motivates you) on a weekly basis if you stick to your plan for that week. Sounds silly, but effective.

Another strategy – tell someone who you know if will be supporting (e..g spouse, parents, siblings) to keep you honest about your treatments. Its similar to the marathon training strategy many people follow – tell the world about the fact that you are training for marathon and they will ensure that you don't feel too lazy to get out of that couch to dip your hands in current carrying water!

 

Thats it! Let me know if you have any other tips in mind and will be happy to include.

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About Author

I have had hyperhidrosis (palms and feet) since my childhood. I have tried/researched almost every treatment for hyperhidrosis over last decade, and in the process have acquired considerable experience that I hope will help others suffering with hyperhidrosis. I am happy to help you in whatever way I can to manage your excessive sweat problem - see the About page for more details and my contact information. Remember you are not alone, and that hyperhidrosis is entirely manageable with informed treatment. Good luck! PS: I recently published all that I have learnt about Hyperhidrosis in my book No Sweat! I encourage you to check that out as I believe its the best resource out there to understand and manage hyperhidrosis without falling for the miracle cures. Will love to hear your feedback on how to make it better.

4 Comments

  1. Rohit, thanks a lot for all your tips and information uploaded on this blog. We the people suffering from this medical condition know how supportive is knowing other people is facing the same challenge.
    I have a question. Do you thing combining iontophoresis with prescribed antiperspirants would yield better results? (in order to get a result closer to 100%?). I have used drysol for almost 10 years but I have never got more than 80% success especially in the tip of the fingers (the solution washes away as your hands get in contact with other substances like aftershave balm).
    Thanks a lot for being such supportive adviser!!

  2. Timmy Stevenson on

    Iontophoresis is a great method and works wonders with generating results for excessive sweating, but I prefer a traditional antiperspirant deodorant instead because I don’t like messing with biological elements of my body. I like this antiperspirant for excessive sweating because it was the one that the doctor recommended because its prescription strength called Certain Dri, I like it because it contains a low amount of Aluminium Chloride. 12% concentration was the lowest that I have ever used, which was great. I even heard of someone that was using this excessive armpit sweating product combined with the Iontophoresis. The experiment seem to be a success, but the deodorant alone works well for me.

    • Glad you found what works for you, but why would using antiperspirant be any less “messing with biological elements of my body” than Iontophoresis? In fact, I would argue that using antiperspirant is much more “messing” with biological elements, considering you are using chemicals to shut down your sweat glads, while Iontophoresis uses no chemicals at all.

  3. Yeah Greg you have right. Ionto is the purest (non-chemical) form of treatment excessive sweating . Antiperspirants with aluminium chloride makes a barries on the skin against sweat, ions are penetrate to the sweating gland, that means Ionophoresis fights the problem inside not on the armpits surface. That is the logic, yeah?

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