IDROMED: THE iMAC OF IONTOPHORESIS MACHINES

Idromed 5 Machine for Excessive Sweating

On February 1st 2010, I began testing the Idromed 5 PC device (with pulsed current) for my feet sweating. The latter had significantly worsened since my ETS surgery in 1998 to cure hand sweating. After my success with Hidrex in 2009, I was very confident that Idromed would also work. Especially since it is also manufactured in Germany by a reputable company called Dr. Honle. Note that you can pay them via 12-month installment plans.

After opening the carrying case, I immediately noticed several obvious differences in Idromed compared to Hidrex. For one, the Idromed machine has a very modern look and feel to it. Essentially, it is the Apple computer of iontophoresis machines. It comes with grids to place between your feet and the electrodes as opposed to the orange towels that came with Hidrex. The grids dry faster and are not made of cloth, so I prefer them to the towels. I am not yet sure how often the grids will need to be replaced. The stainless steel electrodes that came with the Idromed had metallic connectors rather than plastic encased ones as was the case with the Hidrex electrodes. I prefer the latter. The Idromed treatment trays are larger than the Hidrex trays, which were already larger than is typical for most iontophoresis machines. The Idromed trays are easily attached to become a carrying case, just like the Hidrex trays.

Since the original Idromed was made for the European market by Dr. Honle, it comes with a German made two round pin adapter that accepts an input of 230 volts. Because I am in the US, I also received a three pin adapter that fits in US sockets and which converts an input voltage of 110 volts into 230 volts. This second adapter fits into the first one, and US residents can then use the Idromed without needing to purchase any voltage or pin converting adapters (which wasn't the case with Hidrex, although that might have been because I was the first person to test it in the US).

I used the Idromed machine six times during February 2010 (after switching over from Hidrex). It works as well if not better than Hidrex. Perhaps it works slightly better just because my Hidrex machine's electrodes have already been in use for 10 months. The Idromed's two aluminum electrodes are brand new. The instruction manual that came with Idromed is better than the one that came with Hidrex, but could still use better organization. Treatment settings are in amps rather than in volts as was the case with Hidrex. You can find the Idromed purchase banner further below on this page.

Idromed iontophoresis hyperhidrosis treatment

Idromed 5 Treatment Procedure

The Idromed treatment methodology is a bit complicated. You first turn on the machine by clicking down on the knob (but make sure that the knob is at the 0 mA setting before doing this). At this point, the blue screen on the console or control panel indicates that the machine is undergoing a self-test routine. The screen also displays suggested maximum current settings you should use for treating your armpits (5 mA), hands (15 mA) or feet (25 mA). Thereafter, you increase the current to the appropriate amperage, and then you put in your hands or feet into the trays that have to be filled with water up to your desired depth level. Right away, the screen will show a default setting of 15 minutes treatment time remaining, and the current will rise incrementally to your desired setting. After 15 minutes of treatment, the current will decrease to zero, and then you turn the knob to 0 mA prior to pushing it to turn the machine off. Then you can remove your hands or feet and wipe the electrodes and grids with a towel and empty the water in the trays.

I treat my feet at 25 mA. Just as with Hidrex, the upper part of the sides of my feet sometimes remain wet if the depth level of the water in the trays is not high enough or if I do not do any treatments for more than 4 days. During one treatment, I felt some pain and the machine automatically stopped increasing the current to my desired 25 mA. It seems like there is a built in safety mechanism that can detect if you are feeling pain. All my other treatments in February did not have this issue.

Update

Update 2012: A number of people have e-mailed me to ask for more recent updates. Because of my Botox hyperhidrosis treatment in 2010, I stopped using Idromed for the rest of that year. Thereafter, I retried the treatment several times, and the results have been mixed. Sometimes, I got 100 percent success, but sometimes, it seemed like the treatment was just barely working. At present, I do not use the machine as my feet sweating does not bother me too much when I am wearing socks and shoes, and more importantly, my feet are usually dry half my waking hours. I also dislike the inconvenience of doing treatment every week and not being certain that it will always work, in which case I would then have to do 10 or more days of continuous treatment once again.

Note that as of 2020, there are currently two Idromed models available:

Idromed 5 PS. This runs on pulsed direct current.
Idromed 5 GS. This runs on direct current.