Maria A. A.

Philippines

I've been suffering with hyperhidrosis since I was in grade school. And everyday, hyperhidrosis affects my daily life. I listed below my following experiences with it: 1. I really get self-conscious when someone needs to shake my hands, so I prefer fist bumps. However, in a formal event, shaking hands is commonly practiced. I have to wipe first my hand either on my pants or shirt before I could hold the hand of whoever that person is and sometimes they would say that my hands are 'cold' and 'wet'. 2. I rarely use lotion because my hyperhidrosis starts whenever I apply it on my skin. 3. My hands and feet can get wet even if the weather is cold and breezy. 4. In my profession, I need to use surgical gloves to do my job. My gloves gets soaked inside with sweat and would start dripping along to my wrist up to my elbow. After the long use of soaked gloves, my hands get these tiny wrinkles which we usually experience after staying in the pool for a certain period of time. 5. Holding a piece of paper is a real struggle. I had my board exam last 2015, and I had to use my handkerchief while I'm doing my exams because I don't want to ruin my answer sheet and fail just because of my sweaty hands. 6. When I am on my slippers or sandals, my sweaty feet absorbs all kinds of dirt and dust, thus I felt like I've soaked my feet in mud soil. :/ 7. I rarely wear plain colored shirt because it's prone of getting sweat marks on my underarms. Wearing checkered or stripes is my safe zone. 8. Connecting with people with a sense of touch is good, but due to hyperhidrosis, I distance myself from such situations. People like us don't want to get things awkward and sweaty.