It has been many many months since I last did my ETS, and at times I already have forgotten that I was a palmar hyperhidrosis sufferer for the last 30 years or so. The surgery was very successful that I am now a total new person, with dry hands!
Many people on the internet claimed that their palms became stone dry, and I must admit that this should be my case too. My palms are 99% of the time "paper dry", I call it, and another 1% occasional moist when I feel anxious. But the odd thing is that when I feel my palms are moist, actually its just a sensation more than reality. There is actually no sweat on my palms! Weird!
Over these many months post-ETS, I must say that there are 2 major problems I encounter as the side effects of that surgery.
No more spicy food for me. Yes! For the recent months, it has been very obvious that I can't tolerate spicy food like before. Everytime I take those spicy food, my forehead will sweat so badly, that it starts to drip and drench my whole face. I at most have 5 minutes, the moment I start eating the spicy food, before the sweat kicks in! And once it kicks in, I have to vigorously wipe off the forehead sweat, otherwise it will drip on my food! But one thing funny I notice is that, not all type of spicy food make my forehead sweat. Only food with pepper and curry powder in it will create this hassle. Others like chilly sauce, strong peppermint sweets, or ginger will not have this effect. I am still researching on this till today.
The other problem I am experiencing is the loose grip I am having now, after the palms sweat no more. At times, my palms are so dry that anything I hold in hand will slip off if I am not careful. One of the worst nuisances is when I am driving through the checkout points at the apartment or shopping mall, the parking ticket or pass occasionally slip off my hands; and I have to open my car door to go pick that card or ticket up! But most of the time, I must say I will consciously remind myself to hold on things tightly, so as not to lose the grip.
Well, although the two mentioned above are considered some of the problems post-ETS, the benefits of having my dry palms back, are far greater than the little nuisance of life I have now. I would rather choose not to have spicy food, but I want a pair of dry hands to continue with my daily life!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Friday, May 4, 2012
Almost 1 year post ETS
It's been almost a year since I had my ETS surgery done. To look back at the whole 11 odd months, I feel that I have been a "new" person and that I have done many more things that I could not believe to have done in the past.
However many people asked me about the compensatory sweating problem. Well, it indeed started happening about few months ago, but not to the extent or severity of those people who wrote in various blogs in the internet. It will only happen to me when the surrounding temperature changes (eg. sudden movement from a cooler place to an outdoor environment), taking hot and spicy food (eg. curry and Thai food), anxiety state (eg. playing PS3 video games) and when I fall sick (eg. URTI or fever). Other than that, the compensatory sweat does not seem to come at all.
The sole sweating is the one I do not consider as compensatory sweat, as it happens all these years even before the ETS surgery. In fact, I must say that the sole sweating is much less, as what the surgeon told me pre-op. He told me that the sole sweating would decrease by around 20-30%, with the thoracic ETS; unless of course I went for the lumbar ETS for a total cure of the sole sweating problem, but there is a high risk of getting erectile dysfunction! ;)
The lower back compensatory sweating is sometimes quite a nuisance, but if I were to compare it with palm sweating, I would choose the former! Trust me! With lower back sweating, it at times can get quite a lot, and drench my shirt; but because of the constant absorption of sweat by the shirts I am wearing, there is at least a few hours before I need to change - or in fact most of the time, it dries up by itself! For palm sweating, you can't be on cotton glove all time to help you absorb the sweat! And that's the major difference!
Falling sick time, I would definitely sweat more at the lower back (since the palms won't sweat anymore). But in the past, my palms would sweat horrendously whenever I fell ill. So at least this time around, somewhere else which is not so prominent, is taking over the sweating process. Cool! ;)
1 year is almost up, and my response to people who are still asking whether they should go for the ETS. I would say "YES". However, it has to be a severe form of palmar hyperhidrosis we are talking here, and definitely worth every penny spent and every minute on that operating table!!
However many people asked me about the compensatory sweating problem. Well, it indeed started happening about few months ago, but not to the extent or severity of those people who wrote in various blogs in the internet. It will only happen to me when the surrounding temperature changes (eg. sudden movement from a cooler place to an outdoor environment), taking hot and spicy food (eg. curry and Thai food), anxiety state (eg. playing PS3 video games) and when I fall sick (eg. URTI or fever). Other than that, the compensatory sweat does not seem to come at all.
The sole sweating is the one I do not consider as compensatory sweat, as it happens all these years even before the ETS surgery. In fact, I must say that the sole sweating is much less, as what the surgeon told me pre-op. He told me that the sole sweating would decrease by around 20-30%, with the thoracic ETS; unless of course I went for the lumbar ETS for a total cure of the sole sweating problem, but there is a high risk of getting erectile dysfunction! ;)
The lower back compensatory sweating is sometimes quite a nuisance, but if I were to compare it with palm sweating, I would choose the former! Trust me! With lower back sweating, it at times can get quite a lot, and drench my shirt; but because of the constant absorption of sweat by the shirts I am wearing, there is at least a few hours before I need to change - or in fact most of the time, it dries up by itself! For palm sweating, you can't be on cotton glove all time to help you absorb the sweat! And that's the major difference!
Falling sick time, I would definitely sweat more at the lower back (since the palms won't sweat anymore). But in the past, my palms would sweat horrendously whenever I fell ill. So at least this time around, somewhere else which is not so prominent, is taking over the sweating process. Cool! ;)
1 year is almost up, and my response to people who are still asking whether they should go for the ETS. I would say "YES". However, it has to be a severe form of palmar hyperhidrosis we are talking here, and definitely worth every penny spent and every minute on that operating table!!
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