“Miracle Cures” for Hyperhidrosis: Top Ten Things to Watch Out For

Do you suffer from Hyperhidrosis? Does living with the embarrassment, discomfort, and low self-esteem caused by excessive sweating make you feel anxious and depressed? Are you willing to try just about anything to find relief?

Thought so.

The Internet is a big place. You can find everything on it: information, camaraderie, friendship, entertainment, and SCAMS. There are predators on the Internet who seek out those who are the most unhappy, the most miserable, the ones who suffer from maladies for which there is no cure: in short, the most desperate. And you, my fellow Hyperhidrosis sufferer, fit these opportunists to a “T”.

If you spend any time online looking for help to manage Hyperhidrosis, you will see articles, websites, and advertisements for various “miracle cures” on the Internet everywhere, every day. I have always maintained that the best way to deal with “snake oil” salesmen online is to ignore them. However, they are making that noble tactic increasingly difficult. After seeing many posts on Hyperhidrosis chat forums about shattered hopes and reading entries of other frustrated bloggers who are being “spammed” to death, I thought it would be helpful to give people a guide for what to look out for.  I joined forces with the admin from www.VerySweatyBetty.com along with one of her forum members (who I must say has got skills in Internet investigating!) to investigate some of these questionable websites.  Here is what we came up with:

Top Ten List of What to Watch Out For when looking for treatments for Hyperhidrosis:

1. The old adage stands firm: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is!”
2. The word “cure”. I am so, so, sorry, but there is no one, single, absolute cure for this. Different folks react to certain treatments really well, but do not believe claims that you will BE CURED.
3. The words “100% Guarantee”: When it comes to treatments for Hyperhidrosis, everyone reacts differently. There is no way ANYONE can claim you will be sweat-free with 100% certainty. No. Way.
4. The words “Natural” or “Herbal”: A very reliable marketing ploy is to call something “herbal” or “natural”– people tend to equate those terms with “not harmful” or “gentle”. In fact, taking herbal supplements or “medication” can be extremely harmful, especially if you are also taking medication prescribed by your doctor. Keep in mind that if something is “herbal”, it does not have to pass the stringent guidelines of the FDA (applicable in the United States), and is potentially dangerous.
5. You should be wary of the website. There is one, for example, showing a person in a white lab coat… the grammar is terrible, and the site appears to be very simply put together. There is an address shown for New Zealand with some impressive looking office buildings… which, like the attractive individual in the lab coat, in all likelihood have nothing to do with the product being hawked. Turns out we were able to trace this site back to Pakistan.
6. Make sure to ask questions before you buy. We emailed a certain company with very specific questions about drug interactions as well as a request for their research papers, which they claimed on the website were available upon request. We did not receive any satisfactory answers; only a statement informing us that the treatment takes 3 months to work. Yes, you have to buy that much to find out if it works! Does that sound solid to you?
7. Check out the claims. If any “cure” touts miraculous results, go on any major health forum to see if it is mentioned. Even better, go to SweatHelp.org, which is the website for the International Hyperhidrosis Society. Basically, if the IHHS does not recognize a treatment or “system”, you should not consider it. The people at the IHHS devote themselves to raising awareness about Hyperhidrosis as well as finding viable treatment options. If there was a real, amazing cure for Hyperhidrosis in existence, the IHHS would be all over it!
8. If a certain “cure” seems to be turning up at the end of every link you click on, and it is not endorsed by the IHHS, that should raise a red flag for you. There are a couple of e-books that are being very cleverly and aggressively marketed and they are oh-so-convincing…. yet secretive. In fact, one of them was ordered and reviewed by an editor at the International Hyperhidrosis Society’s newsletter, Sweat Solutions. If you go to http://www.SweatHelp.org and click on the archives for Sweat Solutions, scroll down and under May/June 2006 you will see a link to the article entitled “A Natural Sweat Cure? We Did A Test”.
9. If you are curious about a cure that just seems to be “IT”, join a chat forum or two and ask about it. Chances are, there are other members who can fill you in. You can also try Facebook! There are several Hyperhidrosis support group pages on Facebook…just type “hyperhidrosis” and you will see them. Ask,ask,ask!
10. And FINALLY……Go with your gut. If you think you are being scammed, YOU PROBABLY ARE!

Living with Hyperhidrosis is difficult; I should know. I have had excessive sweating and inappropriate sweating since early childhood. There have been moments in my life when I would have sold my soul to the Devil in order to be free of the prison HH was creating for me. It is tempting to pursue these remedies that are promising you the freedom you crave. These people know how desperate you are, and they know how to tell you what you want to hear. Please do not listen to them. They don’t care about you. These fake miracle cures are all over the Internet because people are letting themselves be fooled. Don’t let yourself be scammed.

There are people on the Internet who do want to help you; who can help you– by listening to you, chatting with you, and by sharing good information with you. So reach out to those who want to help you– and not to the ones who want to dupe you.