Jessica Rowe opens up about her struggle with surprisingly common health condition
Former Studio 10 host Jessica Rowe has candidly opened up about an embarrassing health condition.
"I suffer from excess sweating," she tells Now To Love, adding, "It isn't glamorous, it isn't something you talk about with a lot of people, but it's something you have to keep trying to manage."
Excess sweating, clinically known as hyperhidrosis, is far more common than many people believe – but it’s a condition that few people talk openly about.
Jess first noticed she was experiencing excess sweating in her early 20s when she was working as a news reader for Channel 10.
"I would get really sweaty armpits and big dark patches. Initially I thought, 'Oh, I'm just a bit hot.' But it would still happen on cold days," she recalls.
Jess remembers how desperate she was to hide the problem. She tried everything from deodorant so strong that it would cause her skin to burn to drying her armpits with a hair dryer in-between ad breaks while on TV. She even tried to put sanitary pads in her jacket.
"My mum suggested I put sanitary pads in my jacket. But it didn't work! All it did was give me fat armpits!" she laughs.
"I tried everything until I got to the point where I thought, 'There's got to be something else'. And that's when I went and spoke to my dermatologist about my options," says Jess, who finally found relief from sweating from Botox injections in her armpits.
Botox injections is a common treatment for excess sweating as it temporarily blocks the chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate sweat glands.
Jess also admits she suffers from clammy palms: "I'm always conscious of wiping my hands before shaking someone's hand."
And as to why she’s been so open about the unglamorous topic of sweating.
"Why not!" she jokes, adding: "Because it's something that has impacted on me and has continued to. It's surprisingly common, I didn't actually realise how common it is."
"I think it's just important for people to know that if there is a part of you that is concerned, talk to your GP about it."