Hyperhidrosis
Severe underarm perspiration is a serious problem for approximately 1.4% of all adults, affecting both men and women.
Its formal name is severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis; and it is caused by overactive sweat glands, which cause a person’s level of sweating to significantly exceed the body’s normal requirements for temperature regulation.
It can have a distressing and inconvenient impact on daily life – but despite this, many people never seek treatment, which is unfortunate because there are solutions available.
One of these solutions is Botox, which is applied via injections to the problem area to reduce the productivity of the body’s sweat glands.
Do you have hyperhidrosis?
Common behaviour patterns include:
- Changing clothes frequently, due to sweat stains.
- Avoiding certain fabrics and styles of clothes, for fear of embarassment.
- Experimenting with lots of different antiperpirants and dedorants.
- Resorting to putting absorbent materials under clothing.
- Buying lots of new clothes to replace damaged ones – which can be very expensive.
If some or all of the above points describe you, it is time to seek advice.
To book a free consultation with Skin Medical today, or request a quotation by telephone, please visit our Contact page.
Basic solutions
Applying an antiperspirant is the most common method for tackling a problem with sweating, but if your sweating level is severe, it will have a limited impact.
Metallic salts such as aluminimum chloride are used in standard antiperspirant products to block sweat ducts and reduce the amount of sweat that reaches skin level.
However, these metallic salts can be irritating to skin and cause damage to clothes. There can also be an ‘overspill’ effect, where the level of sweat building up under the skin can no longer be contained and is released anyway.
Recommended alternative remedies include relaxation techniques, acupuncture and natural plant derivatives - but there is little clinical evidence to indicate the genuine success of these treatments.
In cases where all other treatments have failed, a specialist may recommend electrical or surgical treatment; but this is very rare and quite an extreme prospect.
Taking all these points into consideration, Botox is a preferable option in many respects.
Botox – the advantages
Botox is a quick treatment, taking only 10 or 15 minutes to apply – yet has impressive and long-lasting results.
It is also a minimally invasive, low-risk procedure and rarely causes discomfort.
It does need to be repeated to maintain the effect – but only two or three times a year, which is very little hassle considering its fast application and excellent outcome.
Botox is a clinically proven method which has been widely researched and used successfully for several decades.
Treatment
When injected under the arms, Botox blocks chemical signals from the nerves and reduces stimulation of the sweat glands, which in turn reduces the production of sweat.
The needle used is very fine, which minimises discomfort; and only about 15 injections are required.
Within 4 weeks, a significant reduction in underarm sweating should become apparent.
To book a free consultation with Skin Medical today, or request a quotation by telephone, please visit our Contact page.
Side effects
These are extremely rare, but it is important to be aware of them.
As with any medical or beauty treatment, if you feel unwell or strange afterwards, you should seek medical advice quickly.
You should act in particular urgency in the event of the following:
- Trouble swallowing, speaking or breathing.
- Loss of strength and/or general muscle weakness all over the body.
Skin Medical’s experts will fully assess your suitability for Botox treatment before proceeding, to ensure your safety.
Skin Medical carries out all procedures at its superbly-equipped clinics, based in Manchester and Leeds. For more details, please click here.
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