In a Sweat? This New Device Might Be Your Family Solution

I’m really excited to share this with you. I have teamed up with Dermadry to create this post. All opinions are honest and my own.

Picture it: June 1994, graduation day.

The day was blessed with glorious summer weather, and my boyfriend and friends were having their graduation ceremony at their school auditorium. I decided to dress up in a matching set I got for my birthday – a pair of loose, wide-leg striped pants and a forest green t-shirt. I wore my hair down, accessorized with chunky jewellery and platform sandals and I was ready to go.

I had never been to their school auditorium before, and I had no idea how many people would be there. Considering their graduating class was close to 300 students, I should have known the place would be packed. I also should have known that an auditorium in a public school with no air conditioning would be a hot house in under 10 minutes.

The ceremony lasted well over two hours.

As the sweat began to drip down my back, I couldn’t stop looking at the clock, wondering when this would be over and how bad I would look at the end of it. I knew my outfit choice was all wrong for this scenario. Forest green? What was I thinking?! I should have worn white, or a tank top…at that moment, all I wanted was an invisibility cloak. But there was nothing I could do. I was sardined in between parents and friends in an aisle a mile long and there was no way out. And if I should get up, I would only draw more attention to myself and my ‘problem’.

Needless to say, when it was time to take group pictures, my boyfriend leaned his arm in front of my pit stains as best as he could, and I hid behind another friend’s shoulder. This was not the generation of understanding; I was mortified. I could not get out of there fast enough. And as you can tell by my description, I remember this nightmare vividly.

This wasn’t the first time I had been in an embarrassing situation because of my sweat. High school was really difficult for me. I had a tendency to wear white or black tops, but even white tops didn’t last long as they began to yellow under the arms. And that wasn’t where it ended. The soles of my feet sweat so much I brought extra socks to school. The palms of my hands would sweat so bad I always had to wipe them before a handshake. Combine that with a beat red face, not when I was embarrassed, but when my temperature changed (and I sweat), and you could imagine how high school might have felt for me when it was time to go out and have fun.

Sweating didn’t just occur if I was stuck in a hot room or when I was doing a sport (and name me one sports jersey you have seen in white or black?!). For years, I chalked it up to good old-fashioned adolescence, puberty, and raging hormones. But I have recently learned there is an actual condition called hyperhidrosis that can appear during childhood and adolescence. This condition of excess sweating affects over 5% of the global population. And guess what? Hyperhidrosis is hereditary. If at least one parent has hyperhidrosis, the child is more likely to develop it as well.

Removing the Stigma and Helping the Family

 I have to be honest, when I was approached by Dermadry, a Montreal-based company that has created an iontophoresis machine to target excess sweating, I didn’t think it was for me. But after the company educated me on hyperhidrosis, my childhood embarrassments came flooding back! I had used different deodorants, topical creams, cotton-only clothing…nothing seemed to help. Could I have had hyperhidrosis and never been properly diagnosed? And if so, there was a good chance my boys could get it too.

Very recently one of my sons expressed his fear of getting pit stains at school. Long after the weather turned warm, he was wearing his sweater all day at school. It turned out he was wearing that extra layer to insure he wouldn’t have any embarrassing moments. Imagine having the ability to remove this fear of embarrassment and enjoy any colour of clothes you wanted to wear? It may not have happened for me at a young age, but I can tell you I was game to try and make things better for myself now and for my boys as they grow up.

One of Dermadry’s co-founders had similar childhood experiences to mine. During his adolescence, he noticed the lack of effective and affordable treatment. Dermadry is dedicated to empowering those affected by hyperhidrosis by providing them with the dryness they deserve to achieve peace of mind. They envision a world where hyperhidrosis is globally understood, recognized, and properly treated. This Dermadry Total machine offers an all-in-one affordable, efficient, safe and practical solution for families.

How It Works

Iontophoresis treatment has existed since the 40s for the hands and feet. The treatment works with an electrical current that is passed through the skin when it is soaking in water. This allows the charged (ionised) particles to cross the normal skin barrier. The water serves as an electrically conductive medium to avoid direct skin contact with the electrodes and achieves a greatly uniform current flow through the skin.

“It works by directing a small current through the skin, effectively neutralizing the connection between the nerves and the sweat glands. Dermadry uses an electrical current to temporarily disrupt the hyperactivity of the sweat glands.”

Dermadry Total is a next level machine that can be used in the comfort of your home, for your feet, hands and for your underarms as well. Dermadry is an FDA-cleared and Health Canada-certified iontophoresis machine that is non-invasive, natural and has effective results. This treatment is something I feel comfortable with as it is needle-free and drug-free. Dermadry is the first and only tap water iontophoresis device to receive a medical device license and be authorized for sale by Health Canada, as well as being FDA cleared.

 Is it Safe for Children?

When my boys began sweating and smelling under their arms, I knew I wanted to find an aluminum-free, perfume-free deodorant for them. And when my sons had smelly shoes, I knew how to naturally remove the odours with a spray. Sweating is a natural part of growing up and having body changes, but it is important to pay attention if these changes are minimal or a problem. After all, puberty brings on stress and anxiety, there is no need to have it further compounded with excess sweating.

That said, if you think your child has hyperhidrosis, there is no cure, however it is treatable with Dermadry. If your child has excessive sweating, your paediatrician will work to treat the underlying condition that is causing excessive sweating. Dermadry is a safe treatment option that physicians can prescribe. Numerous studies have been conducted on children as young as eight years old have shown that iontophoresis machines have little to no side effects and are very effective to treat excessive sweating. The Dermadry machine is cleared for children over 13 years old in Canada and patients over the age of 21 in the US. A physician may prescribe the machine to be used off-label to younger patients at his own discretion. Prescriptions for devices (for children and adults) are only needed in the USA.

To see the Dermadry Total machine in action, stay tuned next week for my YouTube video of me trying it out. I will show you how it works, how it felt for me to use it and how my oldest son felt using it too. Plus, we will share our results.