The excessive sweating of hyperhidrosis creates profound psychosocial, professional, and financial burdens on the individual sufferer; it contributes to impaired self-worth and self-efficacy, decreased satisfaction in all relationships, avoidance of specific careers, and increased expenditures on everything from clothing to medical treatment. Despite morbidity equal to other well-known dermatologic conditions, hyperhidrosis has historically been underacknowledged and undertreated because of the lack of accessible, scientifically accurate information and dispersal of that information within patient and medical communities. Thankfully, the development of the Internet and the work of the not-for-profit International Hyperhidrosis Society (IHHS) have increased awareness of hyperhidrosis.
Key points
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Hyperhidrosis has a profoundly negative impact on sufferers’ quality of life, yet medical professionals are scarcely trained in hyperhidrosis diagnosis and treatment.
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Sufferers do not seek treatment because they think nothing can be done, they do not know where to find medical care, or they are too embarrassed to discuss it with their physician.
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Bridging this gap is the International Hyperhidrosis Society (IHHS): a nonprofit organization that defines itself as the global authority in hyperhidrosis care and treatment, providing reliable information to the global, underserved community of sufferers and treatment providers.
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The Web site of the IHHS, www.SweatHelp.org , is the organization’s virtual headquarters; content is translated into all languages, allowing the organization to truly serve an international audience.
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Medical professionals can discover more than 100 pages of resources through the IHHS from hyperhidrosis diagnosis and treatment to practice efficiency.
Founded in 2003 by an elite team of world-renowned physicians and experts in hyperhidrosis research, The International Hyperhidrosis Society (IHHS) has emerged as the global authority in hyperhidrosis care and treatment. Hyperhidrosis is a debilitating condition that causes the sufferer to sweat excessively, regardless of body temperature or external conditions. This nonprofit organization is committed to raising awareness and increasing the understanding and the quality of treatment of people who sweat excessively.
The IHHS is a distinctly 21st century organization; before its creation, there were few, if any, resources devoted to educating patients and health care providers on the cause and treatments of hyperhidrosis. The IHHS was created to address this gap in care because effective treatment of this disease can have a life-altering effect on a sufferer; likewise, for medical professionals, treating someone who has shouldered the burden and shame of hyperhidrosis can be extremely gratifying.
Hyperhidrosis is defined by copious uncontrollable sweating; it can affect any area of the body, but frequently occurs on the underarms, hands and/or feet, head, back, groin, chest, or other areas. Sweating excessively is physically uncomfortable; it can result in irritating or painful skin problems, such as bacterial or fungal overgrowth, infections, and maceration of the skin. It can also be an impediment to completing everyday tasks: someone with excessively sweating hands, for instance, can have great difficulty operating hand-held devices, holding a steering wheel, and even holding a child.
The psychosocial and emotional damage that results from this condition can be devastating. Social anxiety and isolation due to the embarrassment and shame of sweating excessively leads to a limiting of ambitions and interactions with other people. Depression and decreased confidence are frequent side effects. Hyperhidrosis can also impose a financial burden: increased everyday expenses for necessities like extra clothing and antisweating supplies (not to mention the time it costs to manage the symptoms daily) add up over time. Some hyperhidrosis treatments are expensive, and obtaining insurance coverage for these, or any, hyperhidrosis treatment can be challenging.
The positive side of this condition is that outlook for patient care is continually improving, with credit going largely to the work of the IHHS. Effectively managing excessive sweating is possible: there is a range of treatment options available, based on both cutting-edge medical science and more traditional, but effective remedies. The one true obstacle to receiving care is the lack of knowledge in the medical community and the lack of information (and a preponderance of misinformation) about hyperhidrosis among sufferers and their health care providers.
Over the past decade, the IHHS has begun removing this barrier to care through a major informational and educational outreach effort that targets both of these groups. SweatHelp.org is the IHHS’s virtual global headquarters and central to much of this outreach; it provides users with a wealth of up-to-date and authoritative hyperhidrosis information and educational resources from world-renowned experts in the field.
SweatHelp.org receives more than 4000 visitors per day and is equipped with a dynamic translator tool that interprets content into every language ( Fig. 1 ). The Web site includes a complete examination of all types of excessive sweating, from focal areas to night sweats, to compensatory, gustatory, and full-body sweating. All of the available treatment options are discussed as well as the pros and cons of each.
The Web site is divided into 4 sections, with content tailored to each particular audience: medical professional, hyperhidrosis sufferer, teen-aged or adolescent sufferer, and the media. The IHHS works diligently to ensure that the material on the Web site is the most reliable and current on the Internet.
There are many interactive materials for both patients and medical professionals, from the library of instructional training videos and modules ( Fig. 2 ) demonstrating to medical professionals the nuanced administration of onabotulinumtoxinA injections to video testimonials clearly demonstrating the need for medical compassion and care.
Communicating with all segments of the hyperhidrosis community is important, but the experts at the IHHS think that at the foundation of these improved-care opportunities are well trained and thoroughly knowledgeable medical professionals who treat, or are interested in treating, patients with excessive sweating. The IHHS, therefore, devotes a great deal of its resources to educating medical professionals with online tools and other in-person mentoring opportunities.
The SweatHelp.org section for medical professionals is vast. More than 100 pages of original, referenced content provide health care providers with an overview of how patients are affected by hyperhidrosis as well as its pathophysiology, epidemiology, and secondary causes. It also features complete analysis of treatment options presented in terms of areas affected, efficacy, adverse effects, treatment protocols, and long-term outcome. The Web site’s library has an array of peer-reviewed articles and scientific literature available to all visitors who wish to review the research more deeply.
SweatHelp.org has many unique tools and features to help health care providers diagnose and assess excessive sweating. The Hyperhidrosis Diagnosis and Treatment Algorithms ( Fig. 3 ) are one-of-a-kind tools that illustrate the diagnoses and all the possible courses of treatment of each focal area of excessive sweating (axillary, palmar, craniofacial, and so on) and provide treatment providers with clear, concise, and understandable guidelines for treating all types of excessive sweating.
Related posts:
Incidence and Prevalence of Hyperhidrosis
Impact of Hyperhidrosis on Quality of Life and its Assessment
Special Considerations for Children with Hyperhidrosis
Botulinum Neurotoxin Treatment of Palmar and Plantar Hyperhidrosis
Botulinum Toxin for Hyperhidrosis of Areas Other than the Axillae and Palms/Soles
Oral Medications
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