Holding Hands Is Good for Your Health
Don't Let Sweaty Palms Get in the Way!
Holding hands is really good for you and can provide health as well as emotional benefits.
So, this Valentine's Day, here's the game plan if you have sweaty palms, so you can hold hands with your loved ones with ease, confidence and joy.
Rushing out for a hot date? Read this first:
- For something you can immediately put to work, head to our Fan Faves page for products that can start cutting down your sweating quickly - like antiperspirants for hands. In a pinch, almost any antiperspirant is better than none. For best results, apply antiperspirants at night before bed. Gloves that absorb or wick sweat or powders or chalks to improve grip (like rock climbers and gymnasts use) can also be useful.
- Next, get an accurate diagnosis of your excessively sweating hands. You can find a knowledgeable healthcare provider in our Clinician Finder. Telehealth appointments may be an option.
- Learn about the current treatment options for palmar hyperhidrosis, including antiperspirants, iontophoresis, botulinum toxin injections, and oral medications. Talk to your healthcare provider about what’s available in your country and how to move forward.
- If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. Sometimes regimens or doses need to be tweaked, or injections need touch-ups, or combinations of treatments are required (like antiperspirants and iontophoresis, or oral meds and botulinum toxin injections, or oral meds and antiperspirants, etc.) Be patient and give yourself and your healthcare team time to develop a plan tailored to your specific needs; this is particularly true with iontophoresis. Iontophoresis can vary a lot depending on the device used and the routine/timing. For best results, review the tips here.
- Keep it up, give yourself a hand for taking such good care of yourself, and live your best life.
Ready for a deeper dive on hands and sweating? Read on…
The Science Behind Hand-Holding
According to the British Columbia Medical Journal, holding hands with someone we feel close to is calming and decreases pain. That’s because the skin on our hands is very sensitive. While our palms are only about 2% of our total skin area, they contain about 15% of our tactile nerve fibers. When they are touched, signals are sent to the brain to help lower heart rate and blood pressure. Hand-holding also helps launch oxytocin production. Sometimes called the “love hormone,” oxytocin is a chemical messenger in our bodies that’s important in trust and attachment.
University of Virginia psychology professor James Coan (who teaches a whole class on hand-holding), says a huge reason people hold hands is for a sense of security. In observations of people’s brain activity, the neural circuits associated with vigilance (being alert and wary of danger) become a lot less active during hand-holding.
“In most cases and most of the time, holding hands with a trusted relational partner, like a friend, a romantic partner, a parent, a sibling, a child, is literally good for your health,” says Coan.
Which makes taking control of excessive sweating of the hands so, so important.
Palmar Hyperhidrosis
If you are living with palmar hyperhidrosis and all the negative impacts and challenges that go along with it, you are not alone! For example, Caryn Toriaga is a professional flutist with palmar hyperhidrosis. Hearing about her journey in this video, may be helpful to you. Watch it now or read more about hyperhidrosis treatment options for hands.
Excessively sweaty palms, or palmar hyperhidrosis, is very common. Around the world, at least 70 million people have palmar hyperhidrosis. In a 2024 study on hyperhidrosis from The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, 48% of respondents to a survey sent to International Hyperhidrosis Society members reported having palmar hyperhidrosis.
Sweaty hands create many challenges and can seriously interfere with intimate relationships, tasks at work and school and in daily living, and recreational and social activities. Common, necessary things like writing, drawing, using touchscreens, playing sports or instruments, and gripping tools can all become very difficult when hands are slippery with sweat. People with extremely sweaty hands can even experience electric shocks, drop objects, and have difficulty driving. Embarrassment, anxiety, fear, awkward social situations, and stigma are very common experiences for people with palmar hyperhidrosis, especially surrounding holding hands, shaking hands and other forms of touch. Indeed, research shows that palmar hyperhidrosis has the most significant negative impact on patients' lives compared to any other skin condition.
Treatments for Sweaty Palms
Thankfully, treatments for palmar hyperhidrosis are available, with some variability depending on the country you live in. Options include:
Antiperspirants
Antiperspirants (both over-the-counter and prescription) are your first line of defense against sweaty palms and very useful when combined with other treatments. Antiperspirants are non-invasive, topical (applied on top of the skin), and available in different strengths. You may have already tried the mildest forms ("regular" over-the-counter products). The next step is to try a stronger product such as those on our Fan Fave Products page, or prescribed by a healthcare provider.
To optimize antiperspirants’ effectiveness and minimize risks of skin irritation:
- Apply antiperspirants at night before bed to completely dry skin.
- Never wrap or occlude hands, so they can’t breathe, when you have antiperspirants on them. Doing so is a sure-fire way to irritate skin.
Iontophoresis
If antiperspirants don't give you the palmar hyperhidrosis relief you need, another option is iontophoresis. When the right device is used, and used correctly, iontophoresis has been proven to have impressive success rates for people with sweaty palms (81% reduction in sweating in studies). Read more on our iontophoresis page (including tips on how to get the best results with iontophoresis).
Key points:
- A medical device is used to perform iontophoresis at home or in a medical office.
- Most devices use shallow pans of water to conduct a mild electrical current through the skin's surface.
- It's not entirely understood how or why iontophoresis works - but it does!
- Mention the International Hyperhidrosis Society to get the best price and service when purchasing an iontophoresis device.
- Check our Fan Fave Products page to learn about devices and receive discount codes.
Botulinum Toxin Injections
Another treatment for sweaty palms is Botox (also known as onabotulinumtoxinA or botulinum toxin). An experienced medical professional can inject botulinum toxin into your palms to dramatically reduce sweating. In a study looking at the use of botulinum toxin for palmar hyperhidrosis, 90% of patients experienced an improvement in their symptoms. Effects are lasting (about 6 months) but injections can be uncomfortable. Experienced medical professionals are turning to icing and/or vibration techniques to help.
The use of Botox for the treatment of hyperhidrosis is most effective when performed by a healthcare professional who has received special training from the International Hyperhidrosis Society and who has experience with the procedure. To find a physician, nurse practitioner (NP), or physician assistant (PA) in your area who is familiar with hyperhidrosis treatments, use our Clinician Finder. Look for the "IHhS-Educated" notation in the Clinician Finder search results.
Oral Medications
There are a number of oral (taken by mouth) prescription medications that may be used to help manage excessive sweating, either alone or (more often) in combination with other treatments. The most commonly used are anticholinergics. The medications work to systemically (in your body's whole "system") limit sweating. They help to prevent the stimulation of sweat glands and decrease overall sweating. In two studies, more than 80% of patients reported symptom improvement using an oral anticholinergic; dry mouth was the most common side effect. The key is that these medications should not be used alone, but combined with other therapies to optimize their benefits and minimize side effects like dry eyes, dry mouth, muscle cramps, constipation, and urinary retention. It can take time to get doses of oral medications to the optimal level (the level where they help, but don't cause unmanageable side effects) and practitioners often start patients on a low dose and work up to higher doses, as needed. Doses may also be adjusted based on the seasons/weather. Patients over the age of 65, with certain medical conditions, athletes, and anyone who works outside in hot weather should use caution with these medications and talk about side effects and risks of overheating with their care providers. Learn more here.
Qbrexza
A newer prescription treatment, containing an anticholinergic medication that is applied to the skin, called Qbrexza may have potential for treating sweaty palms. The U.S. FDA approved this topical therapy to treat underarm excessive sweating, but some healthcare providers might consider using it "off-label" for hands. IHhS co-founder and board member Dr. David Pariser led research on the best technique to use Qbrexza for palmar hyperhidrosis. Results were published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology. The study found that the application of the Qbrexza cloth onto both hands (until the cloth was dry or about 3 minutes), wearing clean cotton gloves for 30 minutes, and then washing the hands achieved the best sweat-reducing results with the fewest side effects. To learn more about this, read our blog about it or the full study.
Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS) Surgery
After all other treatments have been tried, adjusted for individual circumstances, combined in a nuanced fashion, and still found to be ineffective, surgical treatment for excessive palmar sweating may be an option but should be considered carefully.
ETS is considered a last resort because it frequently causes serious, irreversible compensatory sweating (excessive sweating on large areas of the body or all over the body). Several studies have indicated that compensatory sweating occurs in 80-95% of people after ETS and can be a lifelong disability that, for many, can be worse than their original sweating problem. Other possible side effects of ETS include extreme hypotension (low blood pressure), arrhythmia (heart rhythm issues), and heat intolerance. Most experts do not recommend ETS surgery because of these serious negative impacts. In fact, while ETS was first performed in Sweden, it is now outlawed in that country due to the side effects. In countries where ETS is still performed, surgeons need to carefully screen potential recipients and educate them so they fully understand the possibility of limited efficacy and the risks of complications like compensatory sweating. Learn more about ETS and its risks.
We continue to advocate for more hyperhidrosis research and treatment development, and hope you will consider supporting our effort through donations. These are vital for someday finding a definitive treatment that stops palmar hyperhidrosis altogether.
Consider this our hands reaching out to hold yours. Happy Valentine's Day to all.