Botox Treatment for Hyperhidrosis

Posted on January 18th, 2016

Botox Treatment for HyperhidrosisBotox can be used to treat Hyperhidrosis, or sweating of the underarm in cases where it is excessive and causing a problem.  When a person sweats excessively it can certainly ruin their life as the bacteria that thrive in perspiration cause an unpleasant odour. This can affect the person’s social life and work life as well.

The regimen for treatment of Hyperhidrosis is similar to any other kind of Botox treatment. It can be done in the doctor’s office in a very small time frame so you can go in your lunch hour and get back to work with no one else being aware of your treatment. Of course, there is always the driving time to consider.

Before having the treatment you will need to find a physician who is trained in the art of administering the injections for the best result. It must be someone who has trained for Botox treatment of hyperhidrosis; not for facial treatment of wrinkles. The doctor will discuss with you what you need to do before, during and after the treatment. This is not complicated.

Mostly you may need to go off blood thinning medications for two weeks and avoid alcohol and energetic sports on the day, or for two days before and after. There is no need to shave the underarm area, in fact, the doctor will prefer you not to do this at all. When you come for your treatment, the doctor will inject small amounts of Botox with a fine needle in a grid pattern over the underarm area. You can then go straight back to work.

It is important to return in about a week so that the doctor can see if any part is still sweating. If it is, he will give you a touch-up so your underarms will remain completely dry. There is no need to worry about your body not cooling off due to lack of sweating. The underarm area only contains about 2% of the total number of sweat glands in the body. Even then, studies have shown no increase of sweating in the rest of the body to compensate for the underarm not sweating.

Other areas of the body can also be treated for excessive sweating. Some people find their hands sweat, or they constantly have sweat dripping down their face. Others find it is their torso where the biggest problem with sweating is.  All these areas can be treated with Botox injections to prevent sweating, even the feet. However, it is not recommended to have your feet injected because studies have shown more pain is experienced in the foot area, no doubt because you have to tread on your feet just afterwards.

One treatment does not cure the problem forever. You will need to return in 7 to 16 months for further treatment, but it’s worth it.