Department of Public Health and Clinical Medicine, Dermatology and Venereology, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
Department of Nursing, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
PLoS One. 2021 Jul 15;16(7):e0254689. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0254689. eCollection 2021.
Primary hyperhidrosis, excessive focal sweating is a common disease equally affecting men and women. Women tend to seek care more often and assess being more affected by hyperhidrosis in their daily life. The aim of this study was to explore experiences of living with primary hyperhidros in a sample of 15 women.
Individual, semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 15 women diagnosed with primary hyperhidrosis and analysed by qualitative content analysis utilising an inductive approach.
The analysis resulted in a theme, constantly guarding the female image, based on three categories, misfitting the feminine norms, avoiding the attention of others and passing like any woman. Primary hyperhidrosis in women disrupted the ideal feminine appearance. Wearing clothes that concealed hyperhidrosis and distancing from social gatherings, in combination with negative remarks by others, created stress and anxiety and had a negative effect on self-esteem. Women felt poorly understood by others regarding the extent of their sweating and were misunderstood in intimate situations while trying to reduce the sweat production. Choices regarding education and career opportunities were affected, since being exposed and receiving attention due to primary hyperhidrosis was unwanted. Treatment with botulinum toxin liberated women from excessive sweating and removed a social handicap they described living with.
Primary hyperhidrosis in women disrupts the feminine appearance, lowers self-esteem and hinders social interactions. Clinicians assessing primary hyperhidrosis need to be aware that women may report the impairments from primary hyperhidrosis as being more associated with body image and appearance than with functional reductions in daily life. Educating patients, providing accurate information regarding the disease via media and cooperating with patient groups are important for increasing awareness and achieving progress in care for women with primary hyperhidrosis.
原发性多汗症，即过度局部出汗，是一种常见疾病，男女患病率相当。女性往往更倾向于寻求治疗，并认为多汗症对日常生活的影响更大。本研究旨在探讨 15 名女性原发性多汗症患者的生活体验。
对 15 名被诊断为原发性多汗症的女性进行了个体、半结构化访谈，采用目的性抽样，采用定性内容分析法，采用归纳法进行分析。
分析结果得出一个主题，即“女性形象的守护者”，该主题基于三个类别：不符合女性规范、避免他人关注和像其他女性一样正常生活。女性的原发性多汗症扰乱了理想的女性形象。穿着能掩盖多汗症的衣服，避免社交聚会，再加上他人的负面评价，会造成压力和焦虑，对自尊心产生负面影响。女性觉得别人不理解她们出汗的严重程度，在亲密场合试图减少出汗时会被误解。教育和职业机会的选择也受到影响，因为由于原发性多汗症而暴露和受到关注是不受欢迎的。肉毒毒素治疗使女性摆脱了过度出汗的困扰，消除了她们描述的生活中的社交障碍。
女性的原发性多汗症会破坏女性形象、降低自尊心并阻碍社交互动。评估原发性多汗症的临床医生需要意识到，女性可能会报告因原发性多汗症而产生的影响更多地与身体形象和外表有关，而不是与日常生活中的功能减少有关。教育患者、通过媒体提供关于该疾病的准确信息以及与患者团体合作，对于提高认识和改善女性原发性多汗症的护理进展非常重要。
