Hyperhidrosis
March 9, 2018
3/9/2018
Are you looking for a lifestyle change? Don’t be concerned with underarm sweating or odor in Houston, Texas.
Do you feel like changing your clothes multiple times a day? Do you have to do the dreaded sniff test before happy hour? Are you concerned about the long-term effects of deodorants and antiperspirants? Underarm sweating and odor can be an embarrassing situation for many people, especially in the hot and humid Houston climate. While most people think it only happens when the weather is hot, it also can certainly cause so much discomfort during cold sweater weather. Primary Hyperhidrosis is defined as excessive body sweating with no true known cause. Not only can it affect the underarms, but also the palms of the hands, soles of the feet and even the face. Keep in mind that sweating is a natural, important biologic process that helps regulate our body temperature. However, in patients with hyperhidrosis, the sweat glands are overly active producing more sweat than is necessary.
Patients suffer from not only considerable negative physical issues, but also significant emotional effects as a result. These feelings include embarrassment, shame, self-consciousness, helplessness, and difficulty with intimate relationships. Approximately 4.8% of the US population or more than 15 million people currently suffer from hyperhidrosis. Of these, only 51% have discussed treatment options with their healthcare professional per recent Dermatology studies.
Contributing to patient’s embarrassment is the fact that there is a social stigma in popular culture associated with sweating. There is a perception that people who sweat do not care about their personal hygiene. This makes it difficult to talk with their doctors about their situation. People between the ages of 18-39 have the highest prevalence of this condition. In some cases, those who are dealing with this hyperhidrosis have kept silent for more than 10 years. It is also prevalent in the teenage years. It can be so socially devastating that patients do not even discuss their condition with their own family members. In the younger age group, unfortunately this can end up with bullying and severely decreasing their self-confidence.
Below are some questions that can help you identify if you suffer from primary hyperhidrosis.
- Do you think or worry about excessive sweating every day?
- Do you change your clothes multiple times each day?
- Does excessive sweating in public cause you to feel anxious?
- How many minutes or hours per day do you spend “dealing” with sweat?
- How many antiperspirants, powders, or deodorants have you tried to control sweating?
- Do you ever change your social plans due to excessive sweating or fear of excessive sweating?
- Does excessive sweating affect your work performance or career choices?
- When you are in a situation involving contact with other people, or when you think about such situations, do you experience sweating?
There are 2 main treatment options for primary hyperhidrosis: neurotoxin injections and miraDry®. Injectable neurotoxins such as Botox® and Dysport® can be used effectively to treat the underarms, hands, feet and face. The treatment takes about 15 to 30 minutes in the office and is performed by our board-certified physicians Dr. Ravi Somayazula and Dr. Swapna Gopathi. It is a comfortable treatment with no downtime. The results typically last about three to four months and Botox® and Dysport® injections will need to be repeated lifelong to maintain sweat reduction.
The second option that we exclusively have in our Memorial area office is miraDry®. It is an office-based FDA-cleared device to decrease underarm sweating and odor. It takes about 1 to 2 hours to perform by our board-certified physicians Dr. Ravi Somayazula and Dr. Swapna Gopathi. miraDry® is non-invasive, comfortable procedure with little to no downtime. Unlike, Botox® and Dysport® injections, miraDry® is a long-lasting solution to underarm sweat as it eliminated the underarm sweat glands, and they don’t grow back after treatment. The treatment has immediate results which are seen in as little as one treatment.
In a clinical study, miraDry® patients experienced an average of 82% in underarm sweat reduction. Most patient require at least one to two treatments to achieve their goals. Since the results from miraDry® are longer lasting and in many instances lifelong, it will likely be more advantageous to choose this procedure over Botox® and Dysport® injections. The long-term cost and time needed to treat associated with miraDry® is far less than with cumulative cost and time of neurotoxin injections.
Some patients report never having to use anti-perspirants and deodorants ever again. Antiperspirants differ from deodorants in that their main ingredient is an aluminum based complex that forms a plug in your sweat glands. There are some research studies now showing a link between the use of aluminum based products on the skin associated with illnesses such as breast cancer. There is nothing to prove a direct link between the two, but studies are still considering this. Wouldn’t you love to stop using these chemicals? Also, there is a significant cost with dry cleaning bills as well as a constantly buying new clothes due to sweat stains.
Call Body by Ravi Plastic Surgery and Aesthetics in Houston, Texas today to learn more about these services and to improvement your confidence…which is priceless! We are conveniently located off I-10 in the Spring Valley area, which is close to Katy, Memorial, The Heights and The Galleria. Please contact us today at 281-242-1061 or email us to schedule your initial consultation or the procedure of your choice.
