People who sweat a lot often seek a cure to dry them out. Dermatologist Dr. Todd Minars of Minars Dermatology in Hollywood, Florida recommends several effective treatments, ranging from a prescription antiperspirant to regular BOTOX injections.
Excessive sweating has a medical term, which is hyperhidrosis. The common areas people experience this often debilitating condition is their underarms, hands and feet. Sometimes the cause is genetic, and a doctor can determine the correct diagnosis and make sure it’s not linked to something else, such as diabetes or hyperthyroidism.
Stopping the underarm area from perspiring to excess is easy. Most of the time I can give patients a prescription antiperspirant. It’s a real lifesaver: It totally shuts off the sweating and makes life a lot more bearable for the patient.
These prescription antiperspirants are different from antiperspirants you get over the counter. You do not put them on every day; you start off probably three times a week. They become more effective the more often you use them. Eventuall,y you may use them once every two or three weeks.
Less Effective on Hands and Feet
Unfortunately, they are not effective on the hands and feet. The skin is so thick there that it is hard for any medicine to penetrate it. For people who have hand and foot excessive sweating, the other option would be a pill. That is what I use most often.
Interestingly, no pill is specifically designed to stop sweating, so we take advantage of other pills where the side effect is that it makes you sweat less. I use Robinul to dry up certain gastro-intestinal, or GI, secretions. I think they might use it for ulcers. We take advantage of the fact that it dries you out. The main side effect, funnily enough, is dry mouth.
BOTOX for Sweating
There are many other treatments. But if you fail one of those two treatments, the next step would be BOTOX, which is more and more commonly used these days to treat hyperhidrosis. We inject the BOTOX into the palms or underarms, and it blocks the chemical transmitters which cause us to sweat. It lasts about six months, so people end up doing it twice a year.
Iontophoresis is another option that I will occasionally use for hands and feet. It works by blocking the sweat glands with an electrical current, although nobody is exactly how it works. There are people who like it but it’s a little time-consuming. You have to sit with your hands in the machine 20 minutes each night, and the machine itself is expensive and does not work for everybody. So we might as well use BOTOX, which works for everyone.
The most important thing to know about excessive sweating is that it can almost always be cured, or at least made bearable. Visit your dermatologist for a consultation to see which form of treatment is most suitable to your needs.
The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.
