What is the best treatment for sweaty hands?
I'm tired of being embarrassed to shake hands.
Soak them in black tea for 20 minutes a day. Something about the tannic acids cleans out your pores and keeps them from sweating. Works on your feet, too (so I'm told).
11 Answers
This stuff is called CertainDri. http://www.certaindri.com/Pages/CD_Home
It will work on your palms as well as feet and underarms. It's great as an over the counter product; contains 12 percent aluminum chloride as the active ingredient and is water based. You can also get a prescription for a stronger form if necessary. This stuff is awesome and I've been using it for years.
The best solution is Botox treatment, however, it is, like most "best" things, more complicated than that.
What you (most likely) have is called Palmar hyperhidrosis. There are many treatment options such as topical creams, oral medications, Iontophoresis, which is effectively low powered electro-shock therapy to the affected areas (mildly painful, and needs to be done multiple times a day for two to three months), and Botox.
Botox is your best option, but it's not without its own issues, namely: pain. However, before I explain the process, I will tell you that IT IS WORTH EVERY SECOND.
First, your hands need to be numbed. If you have someone to drive you, they can do a nerve block at your wrists, however, the actual injections are (I'm told) exceptionally painful, as they have to work the needle into the proper area to hit the nerves in your wrist. Also, both of your hands will end up useless for a few hours.
There's also a topical numbing cream, but my dermatologist said he did not recommend it, as it didn't work very well for most people and you ended up having to pick another option anyway.
If you have to drive yourself, there is a third numbing option, which I chose: ice.
You put both hands in an ice water bath until they're numb. This takes a while and up until they are totally numb, it hurts. A lot.
Then you take one hand out and the dermatologist injects the botox in your hands and fingers until you can feel the injections. You put that hand back in the water and he starts on the other hand. This takes a while and again, it is very uncomfortable. You're talking about a series of 80-120 injections in a grid-like pattern over your palm and up each finger, while your hand throbs and transitions from freezing cold water to warm office air, over and over again.
Having said that, however, the results were absolutely amazing and I would do it again in a heartbeat (if my insurance hadn't pulled my coverage for it). For someone that really suffers from this, the results are potentially life-changing.
My hands were sweat free for almost a year. Even now, the degree of hand sweating I experience is about 25-50% lower than it was after my first treatment. It was worth the two hour ordeal, no doubt about it. I can't stress it enough.
Note: Botox is also great for axillary hyperhidrosis (excessive underarm sweating) and it doesn't hurt at all.
Surgery might no be your thing. I use Drysol. It's aluminum chloride 20%; Like the Certaindri mentioned earlier.
RX only, but you can ebay it from Canada. It'll keep you dry and you won't have to stick your hands in buckets of ice!
I had a professor in college that suggested to use an unscented antiperspirant on your palms (in case you don't know, an antiperspirant is commonly found as underarm deodorant, just be sure to get unscented) the way this works is by clogging the pores in your hand so they can not release moisture.
I just keep a small bottle of antibacterial hand sanitizer, like Purell you can pickup the 1 oz. size at almost any drugstore and its very small. I just squeeze a dime size glob onto my hands and the alcohol evaporates all my sweat, and if you are shaking a lot of hands, its a good idea to use this stuff to sanitize.
I have been a magician for several years. The two tips I have are:
for a more quick fix, just apply cold water to your wrist; right where you would apply cologne. This instantly cools your hand and stops any perspiration.
longer fix: wash your hand completely, finishing with cold water. This closes the pores, then apply glycerin with rosewater: http://www.amazon.com/Rosewater-Glycerin-4-oz-Multi-Pack/dp/B001E10YAK/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&s=hpc&qid=1255578638&sr=8-12
this gives the hands moisture and a slight tackiness. plus it smells like grandmothers.
DO NOT PUT DEODERANT ON YOUR HANDS. By putting deoderant on your hands there is a good chance that you'll get it in your mouth, eyes or keep and transfer germs as they keep everything on the surface of your hands. PURRELL or an even less expensive hand sanitizer is the best thing to buy. Buy a 1 oz. size to carry in your pocket and a large one to fill it everyday. The cheaper store brands often contain more alcohol which is an astringent and will clean your pores as well as keep your hands dry. However, deoderant WORKS GREAT on feet! Spray in shoes and/or socks and it will keep your feet dry and cool all day. A little powder after it dries will control any itching in case your feet become too dry. Great for sandals in the summer or those hot winter boots.
The best trick to use when you are neverous or just have very sweety hands is to hold onto a very cold water or other drink.
This way you can blame the wetness on the condensation and have an excuse to wipe your hand before shaking with anyone.
This works well for job interviews as well as networking events.