I’m really lucky because my work gave me about a month of vacation within a 2 month period. Being on vacation has put me in a more relaxed state and my HH thankfully hasn’t bothered me too much because of this.
I’ve had a couple of interesting situations these past few weeks though.
First was when I went to my boyfriend’s softball game. He is on a team with coworkers and I was meeting them all for the first time. It was also a VERY hot day.
I was really nervous about meeting his coworkers because that meant shaking people’s hands. I was really hoping to stand a distance away and just wave! But I never want to make myself seem any more different than I really am, so I sucked it up and shook their hands. My hands were really sweaty, but thankfully no one mentioned anything about it…until the last girl.
After shaking her hand, she proceeded to wipe it immediately on her pants and was like, “oh, you’re sweaty!”.
I was so offended by this and distanced myself from her the whole game. I mentioned this to my boyfriend after the game as we drove away.
He immediately said, “Oh! I meant to tell you before that that girl always complains about her sweaty hands and how difficult it is to use her softball glove.”
OH! So, maybe this girl was just trying to relate to me and reach out to me. I felt so bad afterwards that I assumed she was just being rude.
I always assume that everyone else is normal and doesn’t have HH. This was a very eye-opening experience.
Also, during my vacation, I had a manicure. I don’t really enjoy getting these because my HH makes it very uncomfortable, but my brother was graduating and my mom offered to pay for it.
It was ROUGH! My hands were dripping so much. I almost asked the manicurist to skip the hand lotion because I have enough moisture already!
As much of an advocate I am for telling people about HH, I’m still scared to do it sometimes. I am upset with myself for not telling the manicurist what was going on with my hands. I spoke with my mom about this afterwards and my mom said that she would talk to her the next time she goes to get a manicure.
The other day, my mom told me that she spoke to the woman about me and to my surprise, the manicurist said nothing about my hands at all. What she did say was that she thought I looked REALLY nervous about something.
Wow, I had no idea I was being perceived this way. Here I was, assuming that the manicurist was thinking all horrible things about me with my hands, but she really was just wondering why I seemed nervous.
It’s always very eye-opening for me to realize how HH is perceived by others, and these two experiences definitely surprised me.
Caryn Joan
Just a Little Sweat 
I just found your blog and I really enjoyed reading your work. I will be back and I invite you to visit my blog.
Hi Barbara- Sorry I didn’t reply sooner! Thank you for reading my blog! Thank you also for sharing your blog with me and I think it is great work!
You are a champ for getting a manicure. I would have NEVER. I had surgery to stop my sweating hands (hello compensation sweat) and just recently got my first manicure. I’m still embarrassed by the tremble in my hands.
SO glad I came across your blog. I just started blogging myself about HH. This is good inspiration!
In solidarity,
Sara
Hi Sara!
Thanks for reading my blog!
What is your blog website? I would like to read it!
I’m sorry that the surgery gave you compensatory sweating. This is something that I had to consider when deciding about the surgery. I have chosen not to get the surgery at this time. When did you have the surgery? Do you find the results more positive or negative?
Thank you for the comment, and I hope to read your blog soon!
Caryn
Hey Caryn– I had the surgery about seven years ago… wow I’m getting old. The only research I did for treatment was on the internet. No doctor I encountered was knowledgeable with hyperhidrosis. So I did what I thought was best. The doctor mentioned there would be compensation sweating but didn’t describe to what severity. ANYTHING seemed worth it. The compensation sweating doesn’t come on right away either it takes about six months or so to start. I can say my life has improved but I’ve had to learn how to deal with a new kind of sweaty. Just the other day I walked to get lunch and sweat through my shirt in the stomach region. Very attractive. My face no longer sweats either except for when I eat spicy food. I used to love spicy food but I try and avoid it now unless I’m alone or with people I’m comfortable with.
I avoided looking up treatments on the internet for a while because it seemed the only options were Drysol (as if), surgery or botox. Oh and some weird electric contraptions. I would get upset reading what others had to say and get depressed.
It seems to be a new day though. People like you blogging. Oral medication is now available. I’m excited to open up tot he HH community.
My blog is: sweatthroughit.blogspot.com
Cheers!
Sara
Thanks, Sara! Believe me, I know how you feel about getting depressed. I have tried Drysol and the iontophoresis machine (electric) with no success. Maybe botox would work for me, but I am a flutist and I don’t need any pain in my hands. Also, botox doesn’t last forever, and treatments are pricey!! We will get through this together, and I think by people like us opening up about HH, things will become easier.