Post by aikibujin on Apr 19, 2017 20:29:46 GMT -7
This is a continuation of the discussion on iontophoresis in the Tite Grip thread, but I figure I should start a new thread to document the results from my experiment. Hopefully these notes can help people who are planning on giving iontophoresis a try.
As mentioned in the other thread, I started experimenting with iontophoresis around the end of February. I used the one-hand method outlined in Mark's blog. The set up I used is almost identical to his:
Disposable aluminum bake pan (from Target)
Alligator clip wires (from Amazon)
6V lantern batteries (from Amazon)
Cotton wrist sweat band (from Amazon)
Aluminum foil (from my wife's baking supplies)
2 CDs as non-conductive spacers to rest my hand on (I use the clear plastic ones that come with every bundle of CD/DVDs)
I wanted to do the treatment every other day, but to make it easier on myself for planning purpose, I did them on the same day every week (4 times per week). I used cold tap water straight from the faucet, I didn't add any salt or baking soda to the water. For each treatment session I was soaking my hand between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how much free time I had.
Experiment 1: Feb 20 - Mar 4 (~2 weeks), treating left hand only - 12 volts (2 lantern batteries), positive terminal to pan, negative terminal to wrist band.
I did seven treatments in total during this 2-week period on my left hand. My right hand was used as the "control subject" and left untreated, so I can objectively judge whether the treatment was effective. By the 6th treatment I noticed a difference, my left hand was sweating less during a typical hangboard workout. A full day of climbing outside in the sun convinced me that iontophoresis was working.
Experiment 2: Mar 4 - Mar 16 (~2 weeks), right hand - 6 volts, negative terminal to pan, positive terminal to wrist band; left hand in maintenance mode - same set up, but only treating twice a week.
I was pretty excited about the result from experiment 1, but I wanted to find out more about what works and what doesn't, so I resisted the urge to treat my right hand with the same configuration as my left hand. I started treating my right hand using the same frequency and time, but I reduced the voltage to 6V, and reversed the polarity of my set up. After two weeks and eight treatments, I noticed absolutely no effect on my right hand. It was sweating as much as before, and when I'm watching climbing videos or thinking about climbing (like on the drive home from a crag), sweat would bead up on the finger tips and palm of my right hand.
I also started to notice the first and only side effect of the iontophoresis treatment on my left hand. The webbing between my fingers and the side of my thumb (basically the water line when I soak my hand in the pan) was getting red, itchy, and irritated. I also got a small circular shaped rash on the back of my left hand which is quit puzzling. Overall though, these are just minor annoyances, and since I started putting Vaseline on these areas during iontophoresis, they have improved.
Experiment 3: Mar 17- Mar 29 (~ 2 weeks), right hand - 12 volts, negative terminal to pan, positive terminal to wrist band; left hand in maintenance mode.
Eight more treatments with increased voltage. Still no noticeable improvement on the right hand. I thought about doing ten treatments in total, but I figured if I didn't notice any improvement in two weeks, I'm not likely to see a drastic change in three days.
Experiment 4: Mar 30 - Apr 14 (~ 2 weeks), right hand - 6 volts, positive terminal to pan, negative terminal to wrist band; left hand in maintenance mode.
This was a tricky one. It's fairly easy to tell if the experiment didn't work. It's when things start to work, but not in a drastic way when things get tricky. Since I don't have a "control subject" anymore, it's hard to tell if my right hand was sweating less or not. I FELT like it was during my day to day activities, but when I go climbing, my right hand would sweat more than my left. So I did end up doing ten total treatments on my right hand with this configuration, and I think it was working, just at a slower rate.
So that's the end of my experimenting. I'm now treating both hands using the same configuration I know that works: 12 volts, with positive terminal of the battery connected to the pan. I'm happy with the overall result of iontophoresis. My left hand is sweating less than it ever has, and I'm pretty sure soon my right hand will be the same. However, after nearly two months of doing maintenance treatment on my left hand, the first pad of my fingers and the meaty part of my palm can still get a little sweaty when climbing, especially now that it's getting really warm in Colorado. I've been treating the finger tips only on my left hand, when I'm not doing a maintenance treatment. Hopefully I'll be able to get my finger tips to stop sweating as well. Also, as soon as I bumped the voltage up to 12V on my right hand with positive terminal to the pan, I noticed the same bumpy rash on my left hand started to develop on my right hand. Applying Vaseline to the area helps, but doesn't seem to completely prevent it. This did not happen when I was using only 6 volts in the same configuration.
As mentioned in the other thread, I started experimenting with iontophoresis around the end of February. I used the one-hand method outlined in Mark's blog. The set up I used is almost identical to his:
Disposable aluminum bake pan (from Target)
Alligator clip wires (from Amazon)
6V lantern batteries (from Amazon)
Cotton wrist sweat band (from Amazon)
Aluminum foil (from my wife's baking supplies)
2 CDs as non-conductive spacers to rest my hand on (I use the clear plastic ones that come with every bundle of CD/DVDs)
I wanted to do the treatment every other day, but to make it easier on myself for planning purpose, I did them on the same day every week (4 times per week). I used cold tap water straight from the faucet, I didn't add any salt or baking soda to the water. For each treatment session I was soaking my hand between 20 to 40 minutes, depending on how much free time I had.
Experiment 1: Feb 20 - Mar 4 (~2 weeks), treating left hand only - 12 volts (2 lantern batteries), positive terminal to pan, negative terminal to wrist band.
I did seven treatments in total during this 2-week period on my left hand. My right hand was used as the "control subject" and left untreated, so I can objectively judge whether the treatment was effective. By the 6th treatment I noticed a difference, my left hand was sweating less during a typical hangboard workout. A full day of climbing outside in the sun convinced me that iontophoresis was working.
Experiment 2: Mar 4 - Mar 16 (~2 weeks), right hand - 6 volts, negative terminal to pan, positive terminal to wrist band; left hand in maintenance mode - same set up, but only treating twice a week.
I was pretty excited about the result from experiment 1, but I wanted to find out more about what works and what doesn't, so I resisted the urge to treat my right hand with the same configuration as my left hand. I started treating my right hand using the same frequency and time, but I reduced the voltage to 6V, and reversed the polarity of my set up. After two weeks and eight treatments, I noticed absolutely no effect on my right hand. It was sweating as much as before, and when I'm watching climbing videos or thinking about climbing (like on the drive home from a crag), sweat would bead up on the finger tips and palm of my right hand.
I also started to notice the first and only side effect of the iontophoresis treatment on my left hand. The webbing between my fingers and the side of my thumb (basically the water line when I soak my hand in the pan) was getting red, itchy, and irritated. I also got a small circular shaped rash on the back of my left hand which is quit puzzling. Overall though, these are just minor annoyances, and since I started putting Vaseline on these areas during iontophoresis, they have improved.
Experiment 3: Mar 17- Mar 29 (~ 2 weeks), right hand - 12 volts, negative terminal to pan, positive terminal to wrist band; left hand in maintenance mode.
Eight more treatments with increased voltage. Still no noticeable improvement on the right hand. I thought about doing ten treatments in total, but I figured if I didn't notice any improvement in two weeks, I'm not likely to see a drastic change in three days.
Experiment 4: Mar 30 - Apr 14 (~ 2 weeks), right hand - 6 volts, positive terminal to pan, negative terminal to wrist band; left hand in maintenance mode.
This was a tricky one. It's fairly easy to tell if the experiment didn't work. It's when things start to work, but not in a drastic way when things get tricky. Since I don't have a "control subject" anymore, it's hard to tell if my right hand was sweating less or not. I FELT like it was during my day to day activities, but when I go climbing, my right hand would sweat more than my left. So I did end up doing ten total treatments on my right hand with this configuration, and I think it was working, just at a slower rate.
So that's the end of my experimenting. I'm now treating both hands using the same configuration I know that works: 12 volts, with positive terminal of the battery connected to the pan. I'm happy with the overall result of iontophoresis. My left hand is sweating less than it ever has, and I'm pretty sure soon my right hand will be the same. However, after nearly two months of doing maintenance treatment on my left hand, the first pad of my fingers and the meaty part of my palm can still get a little sweaty when climbing, especially now that it's getting really warm in Colorado. I've been treating the finger tips only on my left hand, when I'm not doing a maintenance treatment. Hopefully I'll be able to get my finger tips to stop sweating as well. Also, as soon as I bumped the voltage up to 12V on my right hand with positive terminal to the pan, I noticed the same bumpy rash on my left hand started to develop on my right hand. Applying Vaseline to the area helps, but doesn't seem to completely prevent it. This did not happen when I was using only 6 volts in the same configuration.
