Iontophoresis information and discussion (+pictures)

[Pinker]

There seems to be a lot more people enquiring about iontophoresis recently and asking to compare the machines so I thought it'd be a good idea to make a thread where information on all the machines can be in one place.

If anyone owns a machine please post some information on it in this thread and any pictures if possible, it doesnt matter if someone has already posted about the machine because all information is useful. The useful details can be things like what power does it run on (particular type battery or mains), plate material, how the device operates, any negatives or bad designs...

It would also be good if people could discuss their treatment plans, how long it took to get dry (or not), how often you do maintenance treatments, did one machine work better than another?

It would be great if this could cover all the main machines; Drionic, idrostar, i2ma, iomax 4, Fischer MD-1a, Idromed 4, IONTEX, home made machines, and any less well known ones.

I'll start it off with the i2m idrostar...


Idrostar



The case the machine is carried in doubles up as the two trays. You also recieve two metal plates, two plastic grills, two cables, two crocodile clips and the machine itself. Batteries were included with mine but they weren't rechargable.

The metal plates are made of stainless steel so they should last a very long time compared to aluminium plates. On this machine the plates cover the whole of the trays.

The current intensity has a range of 1-30 mA.


Power supply

The idrostar runs on four standard AA size batteries. I suggest rechargables with a rating of 2000 to 2700mAH (the highest rating). If you mix batteries with different ratings the one with lesser mAh will drain before the others, putting extra strain on them so the machine might not function properly.



Trays

Each tray is roughly 33cm long, 24cm wide and 5cm deep.



Hand-held case

[Pinker]

Btw if you're uploading pictures it's a good idea to use www.photobucket.com because images can be uploaded and resized to 640*480 pixels to fit message boards.

[All about darknight]

great job
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darknight

[jimmy]

One draw back of the Idrostar is the trays are not really deep enough for treating feet, aslo because it doubles up as a case, there are two holes in the side of the trays meaning you can't fill it right up anyway.
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UK age23

[seekinghelp]

IDROMED 4 - GS

+ Manufacturer's website: http://www.drhoenle.de/index.php?id=44
+ Instruction manual: http://www.drhoenle.de/pdf/hoenle_idromed_engl.pdf
+ Where I bought mine: From Markus Bindner @ http://iontophoresis-device.com/ (No, this is not a plug. I was very much scared buying something so expensive over the internet, especially since he's from Germany and I'm from the US. Nonetheless, the product did arrive in perfect shape.)



Figure 1. This is the case for the Idromed 4. Dimensions can be found at the manufacturer's website listed above.





Figure 2. The Idromed 4 opened and uncased.






Figure 3. Since I live here in the US, I need a step-up converter (sold separately).





Figure 4. Here are the poles plugged into the plates.





Figure 5. The positive pole zoomed in. Don't forget to switch polarities!





Figure 6. Depth of the tray ~5cm.



* The Idromed 4 works well for me. My hands are so dry, warm, wrinkly, and pasty white. Some parts are so dry that the skin has cracked and bled. It is without a doubt the best treatment for my HH. My feet are the same except for the sides of them. The sides can get moist every now and then, but nothing extreme. My fingertips and toes are able to remain dry.
* The only thing that I can complain about is the lack of an automatic polarity switch. That's not really a complaint, but just a wishful feature only to save about 10 seconds switching the polarity manually.
* Some advice: Vaseline is your best friend! My hands are always busted up, so I have cuts everywhere. Put some vaseline over the cuts otherwise you'll feel a nasty shock.
* Definitely use photobucket to post pictures. Makes posting easy. You'll know what I mean when you post...


That's all I really have for right now. Please ask questions or PM. Cheers!

[Pinker]

Thank you so much for posting! This thread has some really useful information on it already.


jimmy: regarding the inverter switch on the idrostar, do you know which number relates to which polarity? It seems strange they don't mention this in the instruction manual. I definitely feel the current more on the number "2" setting.


* Idrostar instruction manual: http://www.ajgruppen.no/brukerveiledning_eng_idrostar.pdf

[jimmy]

I always assumed setting 1 was red=+ and black=-. When I tried just putting bicarb in the positive tray (setting 1 red cable in bicarb tray) I saw very good results initially, so I thought it must be the +ve one. I would then swap the trays around with the cables till attached and still on setting 1 and do my left hand on what I thought was +ve.

Having said that, I used to do my treatments 10mins on setting 1 then 10 on setting 2 and I would feel more irritation during the second period. I'm not sure if this was to do with it being the positive or negative plate, or whether it was just the treatment time in total, since I had already used it for 10min one the other polarity.

How much bicarb do you use pinker? I have never been able to pin down my treatments, sometimes its seems better with more bicarb, sometimes not, also when I tried putting it in one tray the effect was great at first, then it seemed to wear off somehow, even with pretty regular treatments.

I havent used my device for a couple of months now and will start a fresh regime soon, so I will see how that goes.

Thanks
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UK age23

[zzenn]

I'm reserving space here.. I've ordered an Idromed 4 PS from the same place as the previous poster. (http://iontophoresis-device.com)
I'm also located in the USA.

Once it arrives, I'll unpack and test it and do a photoshoot/review.

Furthermore, I'm going to document the effect it has on my wife's hyperhidrosis. I'll do this with a camcorder. If anyone can recommend a good place to host video in GOOD quality please let me know.

*more to come*

[seekinghelp]

A video of iontophoresis would be a fantastic idea! The only video hosting site that I'm aware of is www.youtube.com. Best of luck!

[Pinker]

[jimmy]

I couldn't get it to work well enough for me last time so I tried using anti-p again, which did work a bit for a while, but I'm going to start fresh with Ionto again. It has worked for me in the past, I just need to work out how to make it work again. I'm not sure if the water composition varies a lot round here, we get a lot of rainfall so the water is quite soft I think.

I'll try and keep you posted.
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UK age23

[mchh]

I DO NOT understand why they do not make the trays deep enough to treat your whole foot...it says to me that the manufacturers really DO NOT understand the condition and symptoms...like the maker of the Drionic~~pretty useless!!(may get your fingertips and ball of hand dry, but thats it!). What about the rest of your dripping wet hand??

[bright orange]

You can make your own trays to solve that problem.

[idripswet]

Here is my Fischer MD-1a. I have had it for about three years and have not had any problems with it (i.e. no breakage, knock on wood)

It works best for me when used for 15 minutes at each polarity. It takes about two weeks to achieve dryness. I agree that the manufacturer is pretty stupid for making the trays so shallow, it does not cover the whole foot or hand.

I would like to try the Glycopyrrolate solution, but have not discussed it with my doctor. I have tried crushing Robinul tablets in the trays (up to 3 mg in each tray)...but did not really notice anything. I believe that a solution of Glycopyrrolate would cross the skin barrier more easily.




And voila, the picture is posted!

[Pinker]

Hey thanks for posting idripswet, those trays do look very shallow.. I really don't understand the logic behind it.

Glycopyrrolate solution will work much better than crushing the tablets, I think the particles are too large to dissolve and disperse properly.

Btw on the link to your photograph type [img] in front of the link and the picture should appear with some luck.