sahara

I have a problem with shaking hands and not wearing socks and thinking about carpet fibers. With wearing bright colors on a day when I have a presentation at work. My wardrobe, my mannerisms, my personability are all affected by a condition called hyperhidrosis. It means nothing other than I sweat. More than most. Damn genetics.

I’ve always had it. I remember the summer before 12th grade, I went to Texas and it was so bad that the my knee pits sweated upwards onto my bermuda shorts. My feet got so hot being stuffed into socks all the time that they broke out in some scary, itchy rash and had to rub cortisone cream on them continuously. In high school I would wait until everyone left the bathroom so I could turn the hand dryer upwards and dry out my pits. I probably shouldn’t be admitting all this, should I? I mean, aren’t you embarrassed for me just reading it?

I went to the doctor in high school and was given some prescription deodorant that was supposed to do something. All it did was give me itchy bumps so I threw it away and never used it again. But recently, they’ve come out with all sorts of antiperspirants that boast “clinical” strength which are made for the 2-3% of us with hyperhidrosis. I wore it today to work and didn’t sweat a drop. It was probably a fluke, because I’m sweating right now, but it was a nice change nonetheless. Would this be safe to rub on my hands and feet? That might scare people off if everything I touched became covered in a slime of residue. Oh wait…