Mark, a vice president at a global financial services company, had a monthly team leadership meeting Monday morning with nine other executives.
On his walk to work, he checked his calendar. The meeting was in the warmest room in the office.
“Thank god I’m wearing my clinical strength deodorant,” he thought.
As everyone gathered around a large table and got their PowerPoint presentations ready, Mark felt a little extra warm. He also noticed his hands were unexpectedly sweating.
An assistant popped her head into the meeting room with a quick update:
“Ladies and gentlemen, unfortunately the air conditioning is not working in this room,” Amy said. “Help is on the way, but it probably won’t be fixed until after your meeting concludes.”
Clothing layers started to slowly come off – still keeping things classy and professional, of course.
About one hour into the meeting, Amy placed a box of Andes mint chocolates on the table to keep everybody a little extra cool.
The executives passed around the box. Mark was up next and didn’t want to be chewing food during his presentation – so he dropped one Andes mint into his shirt’s front pocket and proceeded to the front of the room.
Mark continued for about a half hour with his presentation. After answering a few questions, he was excited to indulge in his Andes mint.
He reached into his pocket… only to find a melted green and brown mixture leaking out of the green foil wrapper, dripping and spreading everywhere.
Mark finally accepted that he had a mild case of Hyperhidrosis and sought help.
Adelaide Hebert, MD, Professor of Dermatology and Pediatrics at University of Texas Medical School in Houston, Texas:
Hyperhidrosis is sweating in excess to keep your body temperature at a normal level.
Dr. Hebert said that although a hot day or an emotionally stressful situation could potentially intensify Hyperhidrosis, it doesn’t cause it.
“Someone could be sitting there pouring sweat for no reason that is known or understood,” she said. “Unfortunately, we don’t know the cause yet. People are looking into this, but it’s not as straightforward as other medical conditions.”
Dr. Hebert said Hyperhidrosis causes psychosocial problems. People often have to wear black clothing because it doesn’t show a sweat stain. Some people whose hands sweat a lot have trouble with the keyboard, a musical instrument, shaking hands, holding hands, sports, etc.
“It’s just very embarrassing,” she said. “Patients avoid social situations because they’re embarrassed they sweat excessively.”
Dr. Hebert suggests people first see a dermatologist.
“The first thing is to get to a dermatologist who takes care of patients,” she said. “People usually feel relief that they can speak to someone who’s knowledgeable and who has a depth of experience.”
After that, some options people have include:
- Wear clinical strength, over-the-counter deodorant
- Wear special t-shirts and/or socks that help absorb sweat
- Botox
- Iontophoresis: Patients put their hand or food in a little tray that has a mild electric current, which blocks the sweat from coming out of the sweat duct.
- Get prescription medication
For more information on Hyperhidrosis, go to www.sweathelp.org.
Disclaimer: All characters appearing in this short story, excluding interviews, are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
