Clothes, Sweat, and Tears

Anyone who knows me knows how much I struggled with hyperhidrosis or extreme sweating (as you can see in this pic!).  From the time I was pre-teen until I was 25, I used everything under the sun: Secret, Dove, Degree, men’s deodorant, old-school deodorant, (yes, Tussy was on my dresser lol), clinical deodorant, prescribed deodorant, and nothing worked!  It became a severe problem when I was entering the workforce. I was extremely embarrassed about my excessive sweating. I would buy Hollywood Fashion garment pads to line my shirts and jackets and also line them with Bounty paper towels and my sweat would still show through my clothing, even the one piece that was supposed to be my savior, my BCBG black blazer with leather sleeves (sweat shouldn’t penetrate the leather).  Imagine walking in a room for an interview, confidence on a million, and then your sweat stains reveal how much of a nervous wreck you really are and on top of that, ruin your appearance, your clothes, and distracts you from the actual interview because you are wondering what the interviewer is really thinking. Are they really paying attention to me or are they distracted, much like I am, by my large armpit stains? Not only the appearance of the stain, but do I have an odor? Of course I can smell myself and I have always put on HELLA deodorant to make sure I did not smell, but your clothes will OUT you.  If you’ve excessively sweated in them previously, it’s nearly impossible to remove the odor.  Pre-soaking, Oxi-clean, Woolite, Spray N Wash, bleach, an extra-rinse cycle doesn’t work and God forbid you dry clean them—that only makes it worse!  Then you go to Google, search remedies, buy the largest bottle of Smirnoff vodka in the store and after every wear, you spray you clothes with vodka and let it soak, hoping it works –it doesn’t!  I can keep going about all the things I did to help my hyperhidrosis but honestly nothing helped!

My frustration was on 1000! In my early 20s, I developed a horrible shopping habit for high-end, quality clothing that amassed a crazy amount a debt and was being ruined by sweat.  I couldn’t continue to this way because 1.  As a serial shopper, I was not seeing a return on my investment!  I was literally sweating my money down the drain and 2. I literally cried when I saw my credit card bill each month.  After I started grad school and began heavily paying down my debt, I started to research other options for hyperhidrosis.  I scheduled a consultation for MiraDry, a non-invasive laser treatment that would literally fry my sweat glands so I wouldn’t sweat and an added benefit, I wouldn’t have to shave anymore.  At the consultation, after the doctor told me about the $2,700 price tag that, at the time, seemed ridiculous since I was paying down credit card debt.  She also mentioned Botox, which had taken me aback.  Black women don’t need Botox, BLACK DON’T CRACK, and I couldn’t imagine being stuck 20 times in each arm with needle and also some experimental treatment. 

It took me 3 weeks to make a decision and I decided that if Botox was covered by insurance, I would get it and see how it worked and if it didn’t, I would fork over the $2,700 for the MiraDry.  I remember nearly being in tears describing everything I’ve been dealing with in hopes the doctor write the justification to the insurance company so they would cover it. I’m not sure how severely she described my case but I got a call a little over a week later and my insurance approved the albeit cosmetic procedure.  While hyperhidrosis is a medical condition, most insurers won’t cover treatment considering it a cosmetic treatment, much like a boob job (more on that later!).

At my appointment, the Physician Assistant performed a cornstarch test to map my sweat glands and prepped 4-6 syringes of Botox to inject into my armpits. I sat on the table with a stress ball and began to squeeze each time the needle injected the magic serum that I prayed would change my life! It had been a confidence builder for years, eliminating wrinkles and laugh lines, so it had to work for my armpits.  After 15-20 injections in each of my armpits, I left the doctor a little sore. 

Almost immediately, I noticed the effects and I cried real tears! You don’t how hard sweat journey was for me! Not because my clothes were ruined, but because it created so much insecurity.  I would walk in a room ready to conquer it or meet new people eager to network and build relationships, but as soon as I started sweating, I could no longer concentrate. It changed my life!

I continued Botox injections every 3-4 months as needed over the next 2 years.  It’s been a over year since my last injections, partly because my insurance stopped covering it—which is another problem for a different entry—and because my body, for now, has adjusted and I sweat like a person without hyperhidrosis.  There are still times when I sweat excessively like when there are drastic climate changes like sitting in a heated car and outside to 10 degrees.

As time passes, I am strongly considering MiraDry as my permanent solution but for now, I am happy.  Botox is not popular by opinion, well almost no cosmetic procedure is common or even acceptable in our culture, but if there is something you are unhappy with, that you have done your damnest to fix to no avail and it is  negatively affecting you, your happiness, your confidence, causing you to look in the mirror and question who you thought you were, creating anxiety and sense of discomfort, it’s ok to do your research, consult your social circle, schedule some consultations with physicians and fix it, especially if it will not be a detriment to your health.  Not for superficial reasons like clothes, which I admit was a catalyst, but when physical issues are having a detrimental affect on your mental health, your confidence, and your ability to perform in certain environments, it’s ok to seek help outside of the standard course of treatment.  Getting Botox was the best decision I ever made. Now getting it injected in my face may not be for me, (well not yet anyway), but do what you need to restore your confidence and be the baddie and boss God designed you to be. Yes, your body is temple and it is your responsibility to take care and treat your body with respect.

-XOXO

StinaDior

Visit: www.checkyoursweat.com