Pasmado is a term generally well-known among Filipinos. It refers to a condition of excessive sweating and/or trembling in the hands and/or feet. The concept is so well-known among Filipinos that it has developed several old wives’ tales of its’ own, such as the ever-popular solution of peeing on your hands first thing in the morning to get rid of the conditions.
I am pasmado. Sometimes at least, especially when under stress or it’s really, really humid. The reason I got to thinking about it was that I finally realized it was affecting the way I play in Magic tournaments. After a few rounds of playing Magic, it always happens that the card sleeves start sticking to each other due to my sweaty hands. It’s quite a distraction and one my opponents even commented on my sweaty hands after the post-match handshake.
I thought about looking for a solution (one that didn’t involve pee), and did a bit of research on the concept of _pasmado _online. The difficult part was figuring out what the condition was called in English. I asked a few people and none could give any decisive answer.
My brother claimed the concept did not exist in Western medicine so there was no English term for it. Some thought that the condition was fictional and only exists in old wives’ tales. Quoting a Pugad Baboy comic: “Kung totoo yung pasmado, ano sa English yun?” “Edi pasmatic”.
Eventually I dug up a thread about pasmado on yehey.com that told me what the English medical term was: Palmar Hyperhidrosis. Sure enough, Wikipedia confirmed that such a condition did exist . I even came across a website called CureSweatyPalms.com!
The Wikipedia entry cites several drugs that reduce hyperhidrosis and there’s even a surgery option for extreme cases. However, I didn’t want to spend on medicine or god forbid surgery just so I could play better Magic. I’ve lived with this condition for as long as I can recall so I can tolerate it most of the time. I’ve decided to instead to take up the simplest solution I could think of: I’m going to buy gloves.
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or you could start peeing on your hands. it works. must be the nitrates or something.
incidentally i am less pasmado since moving here. it may be the humidity.
Yuck! Ayaw ko na makipag-shake hands sa yo.
Joke lang :p
di ba ung pasmado ung nanginginig na ang kamay? and the oldies would tell us not to wet our hands after ironing… or to not take a shower right after a strenuous activity dahil 'baka ma pasma'?
i was about to say that doctors dont believe in the concept of pasma until you mentioned a scientific name for it… unless its for 'sweaty hands' and not the pasma am referring to?
anyhow… tama si pen, just pee on it. hehe
I suspect the condition we refer to as "pasmado" is actually a combination of several medical conditions, that's why doctors don't believe in the term per se.
Anyway, yuck! :p