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Improving iontrophoresis results

Posted: Tue Jul 14, 2015 2:33 pm
by DoogLoig
Thank you for your informative website and education on ETS alternatives! I'm working on a theory for improving the results of iontrophoresis, and I'd like to share my thoughts with you to see if you've noticed similar findings. First, a little about me:

I've suffered from extreme palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis all my life, and I've come close to scheduling the surgery several times, but always backed down for fear of the side effects. Recently, though, I've had very positive results with iontrophoresis.

I started out with a simple homemade setup of four 6-volt batteries. The results were good, but there was a delayed effect in the treatment which made it hard to judge how often I should soak my hands. This often resulted in laziness and missing treatments when I needed them most.

Then I moved, and my new house has a water filter and softner. These changes definitely had a negative impact on the treatment... So much, that I almost gave up entirely. But after reading your website and seeing the information on water properties, I gave it another shot using unfiltered, hard water from the hose. It worked! Now I redesigned my homemade unit and made improvements to make the treatment more successful.

My new device runs the same power supply through a series of switches, giving me control over the intensity (high vs low), polarity reversal, and the option of a timer. MOST INTERESTING, however, is how I ran all this through a built-in voltage meter, as seen in the picture. When the terminals are hooked up directly, and the machine is on high, there's approximately 21.2 volts being delivered.

Here's what's interesting: When I add the water trays and start a treatment (inserting my hands or feet to complete the electrical connection) the voltage drops to about 3.5 for hands, and 6.0 for feet.

I suspect this is because my body isn't a perfect conductor, and the drop in the voltage reading is related to the electrical resistance in my body. It seems like no one is quite sure how this works, but maybe electricity moves into your body through the pores and sweat glands? And this exposure creates scar tissue, or somehow blocks those pores? If this is true, it seems to reason that the more sweat glands are blocked, the less electrical charge would be able to move through the body, and less voltage would be displayed on the volt meter.

With more research, maybe there's a way to recognize the voltage differences, allowing you to know when the treatment is finished? For example, maybe your hands are sufficiently "cooked" once the voltage reads 2.5... Etc.

Have you noticed anything like this? So far, I've only had 2 treatments with my improved device. Last week I ran my hands and feet, and achieved 3.5 volts for hands and 6.0 for feet. Today I ran the treatment and achieved slightly lower results around 2.5 and 5.0 for feet. The voltage also fluctuated in this most recent treatment... Starting slightly lower and rising to about 3.0 for hands and 5.5 for feet.

I'm starting to keep a log to see if these numbers correlate to results. So far, I've stopped about 90% of my sweating. I still get the sensation of sweating when it's hot or I'm doing stressful or detailed work with my hands, but only the very tips of my fingers will become moist. (Before, my hands would be dripping uncontrollably in these situations).

I'm curious to hear if you've discovered any similar findings... Or maybe others on the forum would be interested in testing the voltage during treatments to see if we can pool data together. Please let me know what you think.

Re: Improving iontrophoresis results

Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2015 4:44 pm
by baldtruth
This is a very interesting theory. I have been on the fence about buying one of the expensive products out there such as Hidrex or Fisher MD-1...maybe I should consider a homemade one. Thanks for your post.

Re: Improving iontrophoresis results

Posted: Tue Jan 12, 2016 6:08 am
by Starrski
That is indeed a really interesting theory.

I used to have a homemade device too. However, it took almost two months for my hands to get completely dry. The first three to four weeks I only noticed minimal dryness in certain areas. Unsure As to why it took so long, might be an issue with my homemade machine, but iontophoresis definitely worked for me. I chanced upon another forum which is dedicated entirely to professional iontophoresis machines and they were talking about reverse polarities and maintenance schedules which were really useful information for me.

I will be giving the professional iontophoresis a try soon. Hopefully I'll be able to witness results and will be able to maintain the schedule and dryness of my hands. I've explored multiple options (except medication, I'm avoiding that) and the professional iontophoresis machine would be one of my last few if not last option. Plus, a lot of people have been posting positive results over at the other forum and the support team is generally very helpful(although I'm sure it has something to do with the forum being one of if not their main outlet for marketing the products)