Treating Hyperhidrosis With Surgery

By Kayla N. Moczo on July 1, 2009

Once you’ve exhausted most of the other treatment options available for hyperhidrosis, and haven’t found relief for excessive sweating, you may be forced to go under the knife. There are different surgical treatments that have been developed to deal with hyperhidrosis. Be sure that you start by consulting your physician about hyperhidrosis surgery options.

Current surgical options for excessive sweating treatment include local removal of sweat glands to more extensive surgery options like endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy, also called ETS. ETS is not something usually recommended by doctors, unless it is a last resort. It is considered a last resort because of the serious side effects of the procedure, such as compensatory sweating.

Those surgeries deemed local are those that are performed directly at the area where excessive sweating treatment is needed. There three surgical techniques that are performed locally: excision, curettage, and liposuction. Each of these local options are used in the treat of serious underarm sweating. Additionally, each of these local surgical options involves the extraction of the sweat glands. Excision is literally cutting out the sweat glands that are producing too much moisture. Curettage, on the other hand, is less about cutting that it is scraping out the sweat glands. Finally, liposuction involves the removal of the sweat glands by suction.

As far as excessive sweating treatment is concerned, it is for good reason that skin doctors discourage ETS as a surgery option for hyperhidrosis. In ETS, the physician is trying to impede the transfer of information via nerve impulses from the spinal column to the sweat glands themselves. As a result, the surgery will effectively deactivate the signals so the sweat glands will not function.

ETS is an invasive surgery since it requires cutting into the chest via the armpit and inserting a tiny camera. Additionally, one of the lungs is collapsed to give physicians access to the proper nerve paths in order to destroy them and provide a permanent excessive sweating treatment. If ETS is performed, both sides of the body will receive the same treatment. ETS has been used mostly for the treatment of severe palm and underarm sweating.

The side effects of ETS known as compensatory sweating have been mentioned in passing. It will often appear on the face, chest, back, abdomen, legs, and even buttocks. There is a chance that this secondary sweating can be worse that the initial problem.

Understanding more about the surgical options, you may better understand what surgery will mean to you. Again, surgery should be the final category of options you pursue for excessive sweating treatment. It should to done only after other treatments like prescription strength antiperspirants, anticholinergics, iontophoresis, and Botox injections are tried first.

You should talk to your doctor before you begin making choices about what sort of surgery you wish to use to treat your hyperhidrosis condition. There are real risks involved when you opt to undergo hyperhidrosis surgery. It should not be chosen lightly, especially in the case of ETS. The doctor will be able to explain the full range of options available to you so you do not make hasty decisions. Simply taking the time to research the medical process behind the surgery can help you avoid unnecessary pain or discomfort in the future.

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