VerySweatyBetty.com

Sun, Sea….and Sweat!

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Most of us can’t wait for summer to arrive, but for many, the rising temperatures exacerbate an embarrassing problem.

39% of the UK population perspire weekly to an extent that it’s of discomfort to them.* And with sweat stains rated ‘most embarrassing personal problem’ in a study by Perspirex, it’s no wonder sufferers go to extreme lengths to cover up their problem.

Perspirex

Top 5 Most Embarrassing Personal Problems

1. Sweat stains

2. Bad acne

3. Dandruff

4. Overweight

5. Cold sores

Thank goodness Perspirex is on hand to provide best-in-class protection from sweat and odour. Its patented clinically proven formula reduces sweat by up to 65% – this is 3 x as effective as ordinary antiperspirants!

Simple to use, one application will work for up to 5 days and its perfume-free, non-staining formulation is gentler on the skin than other aluminium chloride-based products.

What’s more, Perspirex are so confident about their product, that they have just launched a 100% satisfaction guarantee. Either you are 100% satisfied or you can get your money back!

Usage: Use once to twice weekly on-going or before special/stressful occasions.

Perspirex 25ml costs £7.69 and is available from leading supermarkets and chemists nationwide.

The patented clinically proven formula of Perspirex demonstrates 65% sweat reduction for at least 72 hours after each application. Tests performed by the institute Dr. Schrader International GmbH, Germany.

Internationally recognised classification for antiperspirants (the American FDA) states that for a product to be categorised as an ‘antiperspirant’, it must achieve a 20% sweat reduction.

If an antiperspirant demonstrates a 30% sweat reduction it may be classified as ‘Extra effective’.

*Perspirex Sweat Study – conducted online by MyResearch on behalf of Riemann & Co among 2,043 persons aged 15-60 years.

How does it work?

Caused by hyperactivity in sweat glands, excessive perspiration can be experienced by anyone, at any time. Perspirex works so effectively thanks to its alcohol-based, aluminium chloride and lactate solution. This reacts with the water in the sweat gland to form a temporary plug to halt sweat production. Unlike water-based antiperspirants that quickly cease to be effective, the Perspirex formulation keeps on working until the plug is naturally dispelled over the course of a few days with the natural shedding of dead skin cells.

Do you want the chance to try Perspirex absolutely free?

Very Sweaty Betty have teamed up with Perspirex and have ten full sized packs to give away free!

Here’s how you can win your Perspirex:

Send an email to perspirex@verysweatybetty.com and enter ‘giveaway’ in the subject line.

You must include your VSB forum name in the body of the email.

You can enter as many times as you like!

Successful applicants will be chosen at random and notified accordingly.  This giveaway is valid until 31st July 2011.

Good luck to all who enter this competition!

Please be aware this promotional giveaway is only valid if you live in the UK.

I first blogged about Sweat Guard’s underarm pads almost a year ago and as we have so many new members who might not have seen it yet, we’re re-running the campaign.

There’s also some really good news!  Sweat Guard have told us today that their underarm pads are now at the lowest price in the UK – £14.99 for 80 pads!

These underarm pads made a big difference to my clothes and self-esteem, if you haven’t tried them yet, please do so, in my humble opinion you can’t go wrong.

Sweat Guard – underarm pads (link opens in new window)

I have recently been trying out some disposable underarm pads and I have to say I’m impressed. At first I was quite sceptical, I had quite a few preconceptions regarding this type of product but was excited to give it a go. I’ve been on product testing panels for a few years now so I’m always on the look out for something new or different, especially where Hypohidrosis is concerned.

To start off with, they don’t look like much. They’re exceptionally thin, I wondered if they’d be absorbent enough to cope with a hot, humid summer’s day in the middle of what can be a rather damp forest.

The aspect I was most concerned about was whether they’d rub or irritate my underarm skin where they fold to fit your clothes or make the area overly dry or itchy. Over the years I’ve tried all sorts of antiperspirant products and can’t use anything too strong. In fact I have to order my deodorants from the US because they just aren’t sold in the UK any more.

Fixing them in place was a bit trial-and-error. First off, I thought it would be easiest to attach them to my top before putting it on, but I found that although they were central to the underarm seam of my top, my armpits weren’t. After that, I found that they were far more effective to place once my top was in place.

Another concern was that the pad would unstick itself and end up working it’s way out of my top and leave me walking around with it stuck to my back. I know, it sounds irrational, but one rarely ever ‘wins’ where hyperhidrosis is concerned. My fear was completely alleviated very quickly. The underside of the pad has two sticky areas, not just the one. If you can imagine a large number 8, where the top and bottom circles are both sticky, and the fold is in the middle but has no sticky surface. The engineer in me can see how that probably came about, if the pad stuck to itself where the fold was, it would end up sticking to itself during the course of the day where you move around. As it is, the non-sticky section allows for whatever movement you want to throw at it.

The stickiness was amazingly just right. The edges of the pad don’t leave your clothing – I had visions of the edges rolling bit by bit and sticking to my skin so uncomfortable that I’d have to keep diving in and sorting it out. You can see they’re respectful towards your clothing when you remove it, it comes away like a dream. No stickiness left. Result!

Another worry was that people would hear the pads. The first time I wore them, I heard them – although that was more my fault than theirs. If I’d attached them whilst wearing my top then they’d have been sat in the right place. As they weren’t in the right place, they were lifting off my top whenever I moved in the wrong way. On subsequent wearings, once I’d figured out how to position them properly, I could barely detect a sound.

One thing that a Hyperhidrotic knows all about is embarrassment. No matter how many times I lifted my arms and contorted myself in front of my long mirror, there wasn’t a single sign to show that I was wearing the protection. I thought the material might be puckered up and stuck in place by the sticky areas or a slight sign of something amiss poking through – nothing.

So, they’re thin, comfortable, easy to use (after my initial hiccup), discreet, quiet, soft – how about absorbent? As I wanted to take a hit for my fellow suffers, it wouldn’t have been fair to skimp on the absorbency side of things – that’s what they’re there for, they’re whole purpose for being. We recently had the hottest weekend of the year, so far. Excellent for putting sweat pads through their paces.

As it happens, the same weekend I was due to sell my air-conditioned car. Not only that, but I am temporarily sharing my husband’s non-air-conditioned car. As you know, when selling anything, you want it clean and tidy so as to make the best impression. Into a rather sweat-inducing top went myself and my underarm pads, and off I drove to a local petrol station. As I’ve never been the tidiest car owner in the world, my car hasn’t seen a duster or can of polish in the last two years. Since I bought it, in fact. Add to that one medium-sized, mud-loving hairy dog who likes to carry the whole forest about with her, you can see I had my work cut out. I began by clearing out a bag full of rubbish. I lived in my car for pretty much the whole of 2009, I had a very sick mum and was back and forth to hospitals and often had to eat ‘on the go’. It wasn’t too disgusting, nothing festering, just bits of paper, the odd wrapper and bottles of water and Red Bull rolling about everywhere.

I was getting rather sweaty by now. Inspired by that, I fed the vacuum cleaner with three one pound coins. ‘Normal’ cars can get away with a pound. Half an hour later, I was dripping from my face, head and back, my glasses were steaming up, the works. All done, I drove the 500 yards to the car dealer who was buying my car, husband following in his sweatbox to take me home afterwards. I spent the next 25 minutes in an internal office and then got in hubby’s car – which had been locked up with the windows closed for the past half an hour. We kept the windows shut all the way home. I practically crawled up the stairs and removed my top – it was drenched all down my back area. I expected that. What I didn’t expect was the dryness of my armpits – ok they weren’t perfect, just slightly tacky to the touch. Not a single wet patch on my top though! What’s more, I didn’t do my usual thing of subconsciously clamping my arms to my sides. That was really good news because I suffer from a form of arthritis in both shoulders and clamping my arms to my sides actually hurts.

The best thing about the underarm pads? The confidence factor. They’re worth every penny for the protection and peace of mind they give you but priceless in terms of raising your self-esteem. For me personally, I’d want to use them in conjunction with a really good antiperspirant to feel at my most confident – mainly because of my paranoia surrounding odour. For that reason I would give them 8/10 and highly recommend them as regular part of your armour and layering strategy for tackling heavy armpit sweating (Axillary Hyperhidrosis). The (stick) deodorant I was using throughout the testing period was regular strength Secret.

Beverly Stacey

www.verysweatybetty.com

Special thanks to Sweat Guard who have kindly provided me with the Underarm Sweat Pads to try.

Sweat Guard – underarm pads

We thought it was about time we added an FAQ section with just some of the questions we are asked on a regular basis.

Q: Who is Very Sweaty Betty?

A: All of us. We all are. If you sweat excessively, that entitles you to become one of the elite who can call themselves Sweaty Betty. It’s true!

Q: What do you do?

A: We help. Or we try to. The two founders have over 70 years personal experience of Hyperhidrosis between them. They know what adversities people have to face every day of their lives. We provide a friendly ear – or shoulder – and do our best to advise you on building your own personal strategy for dealing with your sweat.

Q: Is that all?

A: No! That’s just the tip of the iceberg! We have a private forum for people of all ages to get together and share tips and help prop each other up during the hard times. We even have a ranting section that we use when we want to let rip about something. The great thing is, you can talk about anything and everything on our forum, nobody will judge you for being who you are.

Q: What advantages are there for me?

A: For a start, it’s free. You get all the help and support we can possibly give you. We have enough love to go around all our lovely members. We are really lucky to have specialists aboard too – we have a highly qualified Dermatologist (skin specialist) whose specific interest is in Hyperhidrosis. He regularly uses Botox for people who sweat excessively. We have a qualified Nurse who suffers from Hyperhidrosis herself and we also have an almost-qualified Counselor – who also suffers personally. Coming soon is a What Not to Wear section – where our specialist shopper (with Hyperhidrosis) scours the High Street to help you find sweat-friendly clothing wherever you are!

Q: Anything else?

A: Since you ask, yes. We are really lucky to have sponsors who help pay our website’s running costs. They are all really good reputable companies who we have got to know personally over the years. They are all dedicated in helping the often miserable world of Hyperhidrosis to become a happier place by developing and selling a multitude of products specifically for this disease. We try a lot of products on VSB, and we blog about them. If they work, we tell you. If they don’t work, we tell you that, too. Having Hyperhidrosis can be an expensive business, our blogs help you to decide for yourself the products that will best suit you personally. We regularly have special offers on all kinds of products so you can even save yourself some money, too!

Q: What do you want from me?

A: Besides your friendship?  Just the one thing, please. It’s not much but it will help make an awful lot of difference to our ongoing Awareness Campaign – please link to www.verysweatybetty.com from your home pages, blogs, wherever you can. If you like, you could use www.hyperhidrosisawarenesscampaign.com or www.hyperhidrosissupport.instead. It’s all the same to us. Each time you add a link to us, you’re helping us to achieve our aims of bringing the knowledge of this miserable disease to everyone.  It means that one day, you will be able to step outside your front door without the stigma attached to sweating.  Comments like ‘buy some deodorant’ or ‘get a shower’ is what we aim to eradicate.  We also want to remind the medical world that Hyperhidrosis IS a big deal and that we all need their help.

Hello all,
I have been feeling so frustrated since last week thinking I was going to receive my Facial, Cranial Botox as a Hyperhidrosis treatment.

We drove 50 miles round trip and waited almost 45 minutes to be seen by my lovely Dermatologist, when she took me back  I placed my bag on the window sill next to the procedure bed thinking this is where I would have my treatment done.  I could see her looking and she told me to sit in the chair near her.  (I thought she prob wants to go over the side effects and make sure all meds were the same?!)

I sat and waited and she smiled weakly and said, “The are not allowing you to have the Botox treatment as they see if as a cosmetic procedure rather than a medical treatment!”

She apologized and I know in my heart if she could have made it happen she would.

I was gob smacked and told her I thought I was having it done? I said the her nurse had called telling me so?!  She said she was sorry for this and that it was a miss communication.  She thought it best to have her deliver the news in person rather than over the phone.  I told her thank you and asked why!  All I wanted to do was burst into tears and scream.

She said they saw it as a cosmetic thing rather than a medical treatment and I challenged her and said big organizations claim that most insurance companies are now seeing Botox as the big treatment for this and why wont mine?  She said they don’t understand, they don’t get it!  Even though it stated all the other tried treatments failed.

I then proceeded on and said, “do they think I want a wrinkle free scalp and hair line?” I’m not asking to have this done any where else!  I could see if I was having it done around my eyes and other areas.  She replied they just dont get it.  I them told her how this affects me on a daily basics.  She gets it, she really does but her hands were tied.

How are they EVER GOING TO GET HOW IT EFFECTS US ON A DAILY BASICS???  Can anyone answer this?  Until they walk in our sweaty bodies, they never will or if they have a close family or friend who suffers to really see the draining impact of life and hyperhidrosis.  They will never know how we turn down social events and fear ones we have to attend because they don’t understand or get it!

They will never know how we hide behind closed doors or wear dark clothing to disguise the sweating.  How we feel dirty and what it feels like to have to live in wet clothing.  To suffer yeast infections on our skin and chaff from the sweating.   How afraid we are of having to shake a hand or hold something.  How we have to change clothing often and ruin our clothing because of the smell and sweat stains that wont come out.  How we slip and slide in shoes or make them so wet and funky we have to replace them often.   How normal activities for everyone else turn into a sweaty night mare for us.  The fear of hot weather and humidity.

How would they feel, if they walked in our bodies for a week?

Do you think Hyperhidrosis would be more accepted and treated better?

I have a member in the forum the same way as I was a week ago!!   Crushed and in tears as she was told she could not have the oral medication they prescribe for this (even though it is not for Hyperhidoris) but used as one of the side effects is less sweating!  We take them because of this, regardless of their horrid side effects and dangers of being in prolonged daylight.  We take them because they give us some relief and peace of mind from the endless sweating.  Just like we do with hundreds of needles if WE  ARE GRANTED, Botox or Dysport as a treatment for this.  The only treatment currently to give us a few months break and less of the horrible side effects but it is like liquid gold, hard to get!   Do we blame the manufacturer or maybe Doctors or even the public for making it this way?  It is seen as a cosmetic procedure for vanity but what can give SUFFERERS OF HYPERHIDROSIS relief we are denied!

What can I tell her?!

I can give her the support and comfort she deserves as she is a beautiful human being who suffers and has become a dear friend.  She suffers daily not only physically but emotionally as they go hand in hand.  The emotional round about we are on daily would swing your head!  The thought and preparation of a day in a sufferers life if there is an social event would have you a basket case too!

How do I tell her that everything is going to be OK?  How do I tell myself?  With not having professionals understanding this skin disease, WHO IS?

I have a big event coming up in two weeks and had to pay for my own treatment, most are not cheap.

I have to give a big shout out to my wonderful Dermatologist in Austin, Dr Daniel Carrasco who does understand and did help at a discounted price.

We need more understanding on this and compassion from professionals.  More awareness need to be raised and if your with me let me know and we can fight against this together.  There needs to be more cheaper treatments available for us that don’t burn our skin, dry us out or can even cause heat stroke.

I hope you understand and I pray to God that one day we will all get the treatment we deserve while living with this social killer, self confidence drainer and self esteem robber sore,  they call HYPERHIDROSIS.

This was written by a friend who suffers from Hyperhidrosis and posted this on our forum for all to see.  Knowell has his own site and writes blogs about living with this condition.
We thank you for letting us share this great story.

Early last week, one of my Indian office mate (Abdulhamid) received a warning letter from our HR that he was untidy and smelly, and threatened to apply salary deduction. While sobbing, he showed the letter to me and mentioned that ‘this is your payoff for all the good things you tried to share and exerted to this company’. With caution I asked him if that was true. He directly told me that he cannot avoid it because he has a sweating problem. Gosh.. only then I knew that somebody right there from our office share the same sweating problem like me!..

Immediately I told to Abdulhamid not to lose his composure; and assured him that I myself will assist in solving this issue. It’s really a long time I tried to bypass my office mates’ negative comments about this condition. Now this is such a relief for me to validate acceptance of our situation.

I wrote a separate e-mail addressed to our Administration and HR manager that they are wrong in labeling Abdulhamid as ‘untidy’. Aside from telling them that their accusation has nothing to do with his work performance, I told them that he did not choose to experience being untidy; in fact he cannot avoid being untidy because of his sweating problem. I told them that he has body and axillary hyperhidrosis, while I have palmo-plantar hyperhidrosis.. Finally i emphasized to them that they have no idea how we suffered trying to adjust with this condition.

After that, I informed to Abdulhamid what I did. I waited if the HR will call us for further reprimand but interestingly, the week almost passed and we never heard anything from them. I asked Abdulhamid for anything and said he never heard anything also, neither the HR opened the topic again as if nothing was circulated..

Whether they will accept us or not, what really matter is understanding the condition which can be possible only by raising the issue into public awareness. An understanding that life has imperfections; but the way we live makes it perfectly wonderful. And a trust that if the situation is beyond our control, we can rest assured with our Creator who has the total control of everything when he said “be still and know that I am the Lord..” I encourage you to please share your similar experiences to reinforce all of us.

http://ehsociety.wordpress.com/

If you are interested in being our guest blog feature for our front page let us know.  You can contact Beverly or Anne on the forum with a private message, all can be confidential.

Tonight I was going to blog about electrolytes but I’m really fired up about the procedures in place (or not) regarding Botox for hyperhidrosis.

Dr Oz (in the US) had a segment on tv for just this subject, today.  Amongst other things he recommended Botox.  Many dermatologists recommend it – but when it comes to medical insurance or national health services, their get out-of-jail-free card is that it’s a ‘cosmetic’ product and procedure.  I don’t know of a single insurer that is content to allow Botox for hyperhidrosis.  You might be lucky to get it once, or maybe even twice – but you’re really on borrowed time with it.

Botox costs relatively little to purchase – around $150 a vial.  For the Botox to be administered, you could be paying around $3,000 for your dermatologist’s time – around half an hour.  There really aren’t many people who can afford to do that a couple of times a year.

Medical insurers and dermatologists are fully aware that Botox is a fantastic treatment for hyperhidrosis but they have failed to produce a code that authorises the treatment, even though for the last 15 months, hyperhidrosis has been categorised as a skin disease rather than a condition.  It is easy for a dermatologist to distinguish between cosmetic and medical situations so why isn’t there a code for authorising Botox as a legitimate medical procedure? Can you tell where this is going?  One word.  MONEY.  Why do we continue to pay insurance premiums and national insurances when they can refuse us something that would give us back a little self-respect and quality of life.  I haven’t left a question mark at the end of the last sentence, you’ll notice, frankly I’m not interested in a reply to that one.  Whatever it is, it’s doubtless going to be well thought out and designed to fob us off.

As with many things, vanity has played a part in denying us the medical treatment we so desperately need.  Think about it – breast augmentation is carried out regularly on the National Health Service if you can convince the doctors/surgeon that having a B cup is seriously ruining your life and a DD cup would stop your depression and eternal misery.  It’s a non-essential procedure. I can understand a breast reduction – carrying around large breasts can seriously damage your back and cause constant pain.  I don’t have a problem with reconstruction surgery, for instance after a mastectomy or for women who have two obviously noticeable breasts of different sizes.  A few years ago, there were many women having caesarian (c-section) births because it was fashionable – Too Posh to Push.  Unless there is a medical need for this procedure, it comes under the ‘elective’ category, and therefore a personal choice that costs insurance companies/health services millions – if not billions every year.

There are many flaws – some of them hypocritical – with the treatment of hyperhidrosis patients and this really needs to be addressed.  We’re not asking for anything to be enhanced, made prettier, more fashionable – and whilst it’s not essential, neither are most elective procedures – but they’re somehow considered important.

I’m sure we’ll rant some more cover this subject again at some point.  Please feel free to comment or get involved with our forum discussions on this and just about everything else you can think about.

We MUST find a way to change this, it’s not about vanity and wrinkles and wanting something for nothing, it’s just about the one thing that will increase our quality of life immeasurably.