'Save My Skin': Abi compares herself to a running tap as her condition causes her to sweat excessively
Abi's skin condition leaves her feeling ashamed and conscious of herself. She suffers from a condition called Hyperhidrosis, which is also known as excessive sweating. This condition affects her entire body and there are times when she feels embarrassed to be in public.
To make things worse, her profession as a carer becomes quite a task with this condition. She often finds herself getting worried about what may happen if the patients realize how much she sweats. The situation worsens when she has to wear her medical gloves. Abi recalls that there are times when the gloves get filled with her sweat.
It is during this that she feels like she is a running tap of sweat. Abi also finds it hard to remove her gloves at her patients' houses as she fears that they might think ill of her and may not call her again. To make things worse, she is unable to always go outside in her car to remove her gloves.
She started noticing this condition when she was small. Abi recalled that when she was young, her papers would get wet when she was writing because of the amount of sweat that came out. She further revealed that her friends would hesitate to hold her hand because of this. However, while growing up she thought it was normal and did not think much about it.
However, as she grew up, she noticed the little ways in which her life was being affected and she wondered what could be done. There have been times when she has used roll-ons and creams to make sure that the sweating stopped. Unfortunately, none of them yielded the result that she hoped for.
After living like this for a long time, Abi decided it was time to head to Dr Emma Craythorne and see if there was any solution. Dr Emma examined her hands first to see if any particular areas were affected by this. She realized that Abi's hands were a bit swollen and red, which she stated were common with her condition.
She then used a powder and spread it across her hand to see the area that was affected. Surprisingly, it was the entire hand. Dr Emma suggested that Abi make use of a machine that would allow her sweating to reduce. She informed her that the sweating may not stop completely but assured her that it would reduce.
After years of getting no response from any of the doctors that she had met, Abi felt pleased that she finally had something that could control her sweating. She happily accepted the machine and is now looking forward to living a smooth life hereon.
'Save My Skin' airs on Thursdays at 9 pm ET on TLC.
