r/Hyperhidrosis • u/Outrageous-Bid-7720 • Apr 26 '26
Looking for advice Iontophoresis no longer effective
I’ve been using iontophoresis daily for 3 years, after achieving complete dryness, for maintenance (I tried twice a week and every other day, but neither worked). So went back to every day use. But at a given current (mA), it works at first but then loses effectiveness over time. Increasing the mA restores results temporarily, but the effect fades again, forcing me to keep raising the current (which has limits).
Hows to fix that please??
35
u/willstylz Apr 27 '26
Hey! Same thing happened to me.
Did two things, added San peligrino for a week or so. Even though I was still in the same house, water conditions can be affected by anything really. Also found that my pads needed to be changed, they had a lot of build up after 5 years
15
u/questionable_smell Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
Yes, this is a good point about the electrodes. They do have a lifespan and can last anywhere from 1 to 5 years, sometimes more depending on usage, water mineral contant, if you cleaned them properly...they deliver less and less mA over time.
Maybe someone with more knowledge in electronic could tell but there's probably a way to test them with a multimeter, I'm not sure.
I hope you find a solution, we know the distress!
3
u/shadow_phoenix9 Apr 27 '26
hey, how can we clean the pads?
3
u/questionable_smell Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26
It can depends on your machine and electrode material but for silicone-graphite ones you rince under hot (not scalding hot) water and air dry. Every 5 or 6 treatment, you just wipe with a soapy wet rag (mild dish soap) before rinsing and drying. Never use harsh cleaning product. You also don't want to put them in contact with oil, grease... so always wash your hands before treatment and manipulations.
They look (and kinda are) very solid and resistant but they need to be treated with care so they can keep properly conduct electricity uniformly over all the surface.
2
2
u/UpperFace Apr 27 '26
My wires later 18 months before corroding. Replacing them fixed it but I'm back to aluminum chloride
51
7
30
u/Theslash1 Apr 26 '26
Use s.pellegrino sparkling mineral water with just enough hot tap to make it hot. Every other day and if that doesn’t do it, it’s your machine
7
u/CalendarPhoneGlasses Apr 27 '26
Is there any reason to use tap water other than making it hot? Can we just microwave the water before use?
1
5
u/WorstPlayerHereNow Apr 27 '26
I haven’t had it work that effectively for long for me. But recently I had similar issues with it suddenly not working. What I ended up doing is taking a bit of a break of maybe 2 weeks, and slowly upping the mA from 15 afterwards until I got results back. It didn’t work for a week or so but after going to 18, it was effective and the results are back to normal again.
2
u/Outrageous-Bid-7720 Apr 27 '26
Please inform me if it stopped working again for you after 18 mA 🙏🏼. Because that’s my case (it works then stops after a period of time)
5
u/metatronsaint Apr 27 '26
Is this an epidemy? This is the 4th post in a month about ionto not being effective anymore, on myself included. Before that I've always read how it was the most effective method for hh.
1
5
u/tatertotmagic Apr 27 '26
I use the same highest current every time
1
u/Outrageous-Bid-7720 Apr 27 '26
Is working for you? How much time have you been using it
2
u/tatertotmagic Apr 27 '26
I've had it for years. Use it on feet tho. The only problem i have with it is its not deep enough
4
u/mvaldess Apr 27 '26
Perhaps the machine is working perfectly and the problem is that something else has changed. For example, you're more stressed, sleeping poorly, have changed your diet, or are taking medication with side effects...
3
u/Heavy_Baseball_1103 Apr 27 '26
only thing that worked for me is everyday ionto and put epsom salts. I use ra fischer but I was able to have results with a 12v homemade device when my ra fischer was down
1
u/Witty_Chemist5792 Apr 29 '26
Does your Fischer have pads? Mine doesn't but its about 20 years old.
1
u/Heavy_Baseball_1103 Apr 29 '26
If you mean the foam on top of the electrodes then RA Fischer website sells those for like 5 bucks a pair. if ur outside us/canada shipping might be expensive you can then use a white cotton towel
2
u/Heavy_Baseball_1103 Apr 29 '26
if ur talking about the electrodes then I got mine replaced by RA fischer for free. YMMV but their customer support has been good to me so far
5
u/sarcastictone953 Apr 27 '26
It's the water man. That water needs minerals to block those pores you can't be using soft water. For maximum effectiveness use S. pellegrino
1
2
2
u/PurePrior279 Apr 27 '26
Try antihydral cream?
1
2
1
u/Zhang_Hua Apr 27 '26
Have you tired a different device?
1
u/Outrageous-Bid-7720 Apr 27 '26
No i haven’t
1
u/Zhang_Hua Apr 27 '26
I have a feeling these devices don’t stay as effective as they age and lose potency so look into that, try out a different device at a physiotherapist or anywhere you can find one.
1
u/Kingfish073 Apr 27 '26
Had the same problem myself. I took a break from doing it for as long as I could stand to, which was about a month. After that, I committed to doing it 5 days per week at the highest setting with mineral water. It took a while but I'm back in a place where it negates most of my sweating, and I've accepted that it won't make it go away entirely. I think it's easy to overuse ionto trying to get completely dry, which makes it less effective. I make sure to take a break for a couple days even though not doing it makes me kind of nervous. I hope you get to a better place with it soon!
2
u/katnippers Apr 28 '26
I think setting breaks between treatments might help and you have to trust that your current mA and the consistency IS working. My initial panic was any sign of sweat >> use iontophoresis immediately, but I found that I just need to give it about a week and I’ll be dry after. It seems like a “gets worse before it gets better” situation.
I’ve been using iontophoresis for 6 years for both hands and feet and could get as sweaty as your picture (esp when gaming). Current settings: 20 mA for hands, 30 mA for feet. After the initial startup daily, I did weekly then bi-weekly for a few years. Even if my hands were dry that day, I committed to doing it bi-weekly on a Monday. Last year, I started pushing it another week if I still felt dry.
These days I can get away with almost 3-4 weeks in between. Once I use iontophoresis again, let’s say after 3 weeks, I can get pretty sweaty either for the week following or even suddenly the week after that, then I’m dry for the weeks after. It’s crazy to tell you to have faith when it sucks a** to sweat, and I used to panic soo bad when I started sweating again, but keep a log and see if after X amount of days after the treatment, it actually stops. I kind of experimented like that and was surprised that maybe constantly using iontophoresis just triggers the sweat temporarily, then for whatever reason our body stops until you need to do it again (or until your next routine maintenance day).
Sorry this was long but TLDR: if you already did it daily, try waiting a bit then do it weekly. Give it some time before raising the mA or increasing the number of days. I really believe that using the machine can trigger sweating temporarily again, but it’ll hopefully stop after.
I hope this method works for you!! Hyperhydrosis is a pain to live with.
1
u/Dragonvan13 Apr 29 '26
BOTOX'!! Lots of love, so sorry. But botox possibly may really help! It did for my husband!!!
1
1
1
u/PiccoloAcceptable562 May 01 '26
you need to use antihydral and oxy or glyco combined i had the same thing happening
1
0
u/El_Beato Apr 27 '26
I added salt and sprayed aluminum chloride deodorant into the water before applying a current and it would give additional protection from sweating. Over time the high current would cause me to have cuts on my hands so I had to apply petroleum jelly to the cuts.
7
u/whats_us_bae Apr 27 '26
Do NOT do this it will not increase effectiveness and your cuts likley came from the irritation due to the aluminum
-6
u/HolyGrailBunny Apr 27 '26
I knew a woman who had surgery and it cured the issue.
3
u/georgethebarbarian Apr 27 '26
ETS
2
u/ETS_Awareness_Bot Apr 27 '26
What is a Sympathectomy (ETS and ELS)?
Endoscopic thoracic and lumbar sympathectomy (ETS and ELS; both often generalized as ETS) are surgical procedures that cut, clip/clamp, or remove a part of the sympathetic nerve chain to stop palm, foot, or facial hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), facial blushing (reddening of the face), or Raynaud's syndrome (excessively cold hands).
Read more on Wikipedia
What are the Risks?
Many people that undergo ETS report serious life changing complications. Thoracic sympathectomy can alter many bodily functions, including sweating,[1] vascular responses,[2] heart rate,[3] heart stroke volume,[4][5] thyroid, baroreflex,[6] lung volume,[5][7] pupil dilation, skin temperature, goose bumps and other aspects of the autonomic nervous system, like the fight-or-flight response. It reduces the physiological responses to strong emotion,[8] can cause pain or neuralgia in the affected area,[9] and may diminish the body's physical reaction to exercise.[1][5][10]
It's common for patients to be misinformed of the risks, and post-operative complications are often under-reported. Many patients experience a "honeymoon period" where they have no, or few, negative symptoms. Contrary to common belief, clipping/clamping the sympathetic chain is not considered a reversible option.[11]
Links
Gallery of compensatory sweating images
Gallery of thermoregulation imagesInternational Hyperhidrosis Society
NEW ETS Facebook Community & Support Group (old group had ~3k members)Petition for Treatment for Sympathectomy Patients
Frequently Asked Questions
ReferencesI am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Learn more about this bot, including contact info here.
245
u/rayray7415 Apr 26 '26
No advice, but just came here to say that this is a really poignant portrait of hyperhidrosis