Sweat on My Hands | Incheon Hyperhidrosis
Sweat on My Hands: Could It Be a Sign My Emotions Are Leaking?
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"My hands start flooding with sweat 10 seconds before I have to shake hands with the interviewer. I feel like I've ruined everything because of my clammy hands, more than any answer I diligently prepared. I hate this about myself so much." |
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[CASE] The Concern of a 23-year-old Aspiring Designer For Ms. A, a 23-year-old aspiring designer, palmar and plantar hyperhidrosis was not just a simple inconvenience. It was a huge wall blocking her dreams. On the day of her graduation project presentation, the microphone she held while explaining her work, fraught with tension, quickly became damp. She felt as if everyone's gaze was fixed on her hands, and her mind went blank. Beyond the discomfort caused by sweat, it was a moment where even her self-confidence crumbled. |
Of course, she wasn't someone who hadn't made an effort. Topical medications like Driclor irritated her skin, and Botox injections were burdensome due to cost and pain.
Even if she found ways to temporarily stop hand sweat, she couldn't fundamentally prevent the sudden surge of sweat during critical moments.
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[A Limitation to Note] This is precisely the clear limitation of existing hyperhidrosis treatments. They only focus on temporarily turning off the 'faucet' of the sweat glands. They fail to address why our body so intensely opens that faucet, or the fundamental problem of 'water pressure'. If this problem were merely a functional abnormality of the sweat glands, one should always sweat at a consistent level, regardless of emotional state. However, the fact that it explosively increases specifically when one is nervous indicates that the culprit lies elsewhere. |
This phenomenon is like 'coolant leaking from an overheated engine'. While the leaking coolant (sweat) is a problem, the true underlying cause is a signal that the engine (nervous system) is overheating.
Our bodies mistakenly perceive psychological pressures like social tension and hyperhidrosis stress as threats to survival, and excessively activate the sympathetic nervous system, one of the symptoms of autonomic nervous system dysfunction. The heart races, body temperature rises, and the body forcibly expels sweat to cool down this 'emergency situation'.
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[Traditional Korean Medicine Perspective: Simyeol (心熱)] In Traditional Korean Medicine, this state of 'overheated mind' is explained by the concept of ‘Simyeol (心熱)’, or 'Heart Heat'. The 'fire' of the mind accumulates heat in the heart, and this heat causes the body's jin-aek (body fluids/moisture) to be expelled outwards. This is not merely a metaphor, but an insight into how emotional stress leads to a physical 'heat' response and an imbalance in 'fluid metabolism'. |
Sweaty hands during exams in school → Symptoms worsened with presentation anxiety during college → Reached the worst state due to job preparation and interview stress.
When does your sweat appear, and with what emotions?
At that moment, did you also feel your heart pounding or your face flushing?
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[The Beginning of a New Question] Therefore, the question we should now be asking is not 'How can we block the sweat pores?', but rather, "How can I cool down this engine that overheats during every important moment of my life?" This will be the first step to stop fighting against sweat, to listen to the earnest signals my body is sending, and to reset my relationship with it. |