Excessive sweating is a very difficult medical issue to fix on your own. This problem may not respond to deodorants, lifestyle changes, or any other at-home remedies. Fortunately, you don’t have to let this problem keep you from living a full, happy life. At Grossman Dermatology in Santa Monica, CA, we can treat your excessive sweating with MiraDry.
How Can You Stop Excessive Sweating? Discover MiraDry
MiraDry is a minimally invasive treatment that can reduce your excessive underarm sweating. During your appointment, we will use a special device to send thermal energy into your underarms. This thermal energy will destroy the sweat glands in this area of your body. After we destroy these glands, your excessive sweating will be reduced.
It’s common to receive this treatment after you have been diagnosed with axillary hyperhidrosis. This medical condition, which causes your underarms to produce excessive amounts of sweat, can lead to skin problems and odor issues. Your axillary hyperhidrosis can also damage your social life and prevent you from achieving success at work.
Why Is My Body Producing Excessive Amounts of Sweat?
There are a variety of conditions that can cause your underarms and other parts of your body to produce excessive amounts of sweat.
Primary Focal Hyperhidrosis
Primary focal hyperhidrosis affects about 1 to 2% of the people living in America. This medical issue causes certain parts of the body to sweat excessively. This problem may affect the face, hands, feet, and underarms. Although scientists do not know the cause of this problem, they believe that this issue may result from nervous system disorders. Scientists also think that this sweating problem may run in families.
This issue usually isn’t connected to more serious medical conditions. However, primary focal hyperhidrosis can cause social challenges, anxiety, and other health issues. Further, this sweating issue will increase your likelihood of developing rashes, infections, and other skin problems.
Secondary General Hyperhidrosis
If you have secondary general hyperhidrosis, you will produce excessive amounts of sweat on your entire body. This problem is usually caused by a separate medical issue. For example, you can develop secondary general hyperhidrosis if you have diabetes, cancer, or arthritis. In addition, going through pregnancy or menopause can cause you to experience sweating issues.
Your secondary general hyperhidrosis is likely to improve if you treat your underlying medical condition. For example, if diabetes is causing you to experience this problem, controlling your diabetes may reduce your excessive sweating.
What Should I Do To Get Ready for My Anti-Sweating Treatment?
Since this treatment uses a minimally invasive method to reduce your unnecessary sweating, you will not need to make major lifestyle adjustments before your appointment. That said, we will ask you to shave your armpits one to two days before your treatment. Shaving this area of your body will enable us to treat your sweat glands in a quick, easy fashion.
Although it’s a good idea to prepare your underarms for this treatment, you shouldn’t worry if you forget to shave these hairs. We can shave or clip your underarm hair before we use our miraDry device to improve your sweating.
Will My Anti-Sweating Treatment Be Uncomfortable?
This anti-sweating treatment will be very quick and comfortable.
Getting Into Position
We will begin by asking you to lie down on your back. Next, we will ask you to place your arms above your head and rest them on a special support structure.
Numbing Your Body
Once you are in position, we will use temporary ink or markers to make notations on your underarms. These markings will guide us during the next step of your treatment. Next, we will use a local anesthetic to numb your treatment area. You may feel a slight pinch as we administer these injections.
Treating Your Sweat Glands
After you are numb, we will put our device onto the skin in your underarms. You will feel a gentle suctioning sensation when we turn on this device and begin to send energy into your skin.
You will also hear beeps and tones during this part of your treatment. These sounds indicate that the anti-sweating device is functioning properly. It will usually take us about one hour to complete your anti-sweating treatment.
Can I Go To My Home or Office After I Finish This Treatment?
This anti-sweating treatment has a very minimal recovery period. After we have finished treating your underarms with our device, you’ll be able to drive yourself back to work. Alternatively, you could return to your home. Although you’ll be able to resume most of your usual activities right away, we will ask you not to perform very challenging physical activities for a few days.
When Will My Underarm Sweating Improve?
This treatment is a good way to quickly reduce your underarm sweating. Although your reaction to this treatment may vary, it’s common to notice a significant reduction in your sweating within a few days. This treatment will also dramatically reduce the unpleasant odors created by your excessive sweating.
How Many Anti-Sweating Treatments Will I Receive?
Although your response to this anti-sweating treatment will be unique, you are likely to notice positive changes in your excessive sweating right away.
After you receive two anti-sweating treatments, you are likely to achieve a 90% reduction in your unnecessary sweating. In addition, the results of multiple treatments should last for a longer period of time. To achieve the most significant improvements in your sweating, we will advise you to receive both of your treatments within a three month period.
Will This Treatment Create Permanent Improvements in My Sweating?
This treatment uses thermal energy to permanently disable the sweat glands in your underarms. As a result, this treatment will produce lasting improvements in your sweating. Although your results may vary, scientific research has shown that the positive changes in your excessive sweating may last for more than two years.
Will Removing My Sweat Glands Harm My Health?
Many people worry that removing the sweat glands under their arms will have a negative impact on their health. Fortunately, these fears are not justified. Sweating is an important bodily function that controls your temperature when you are in hot weather or exercising.
Fortunately, your body has two to four million different sweat glands. The sweat glands that are located in your underarms comprise about 2% of your total number of these glands. After you treat your underarms, the sweat glands on the rest of your body will continue to function normally. As a result, you will still be able to cool your body after you remove the sweat glands under your arms.
Is This Anti-Sweating Treatment Safe?
This is a widely-used, tested treatment that has a very favorable safety record. In addition, the FDA has cleared this treatment for the purpose of reducing underarm sweating.
Can I Use Other Treatments To Fix My Sweating Issues?
There are a number of methods that can reduce your sweating and improve the negative symptoms that are associated with this health issue.
Choose Breathable Fabrics
Certain fabrics can trap your sweat against your skin. To avoid this problem, you should try to wear shirts that are made of breathable fabrics. For example, wearing shirts that are made of silk or cotton may reduce the negative symptoms associated with your excessive sweating.
In addition to choosing suitable fabrics, you should change your clothing frequently. If you are planning to spend a long time outside in a hot climate, you should bring along a change of clothing. After a couple of hours, you could change into a clean outfit.
Take Frequent Showers
Excessive underarm sweating can create unpleasant odors and skin infections. Taking frequent showers and using strong antibacterial soap can improve these issues.
Avoid Triggers
Certain foods and beverages may cause your underarms and other parts of your body to produce larger amounts of sweat. For example, eating a large amount of spicy foods can increase your excessive sweating. In addition, drinking tea, coffee, and alcohol may make this problem worse. Avoiding spicy foods, caffeinated beverages, and alcohol may decrease your sweating issues.
Use Antiperspirants
Using antiperspirants can be a good way to reduce underarm sweating. Many antiperspirants use special formulas to reduce the amount of perspiration produced by your sweat glands. It’s a good idea to try a variety of over-the-counter antiperspirants to improve your sweating issues. If these products do not work, you should ask your medical provider to give you a prescription for a stronger antiperspirant.
Do I Need a Formal Hyperhidrosis Diagnosis To Receive This Treatment?
You don’t have to receive a hyperhidrosis diagnosis in order to use this treatment. There are a number of other reasons why you might want to reduce the amount of sweat that your underarms produce. For example, you may want to avoid using deodorants that contain potentially harmful chemicals. Alternatively, you might want to prevent underarm sweating that will stain your favorite articles of clothing.
Can I Receive This Anti-Sweating Treatment if I Have Medical Issues?
Since this anti-sweating treatment is minimally invasive, you are likely to be a suitable candidate for miraDry. However, you should not use this anti-sweating technique if you have certain health conditions or skin problems.
Scars and Other Medical Issues
In particular, you should not use this treatment if you have an active infection or a large amount of scar tissue in your underarms. In addition, you cannot receive this treatment if you are unable to use local anesthesia.
Further, you cannot get this treatment while you are pregnant or breastfeeding. In addition, you should use other anti-sweating methods if you have a pacemaker or other implant in your body. We also recommend avoiding this treatment if you have used isotretinoin, also known as Accutane, within the last six months.
Evaluating Your Health
During your consultation, we will talk about the emotional and physical issues that your excessive sweating is causing you to experience. We will also examine your underarms. Based on this information, we will determine whether you are a good candidate for this treatment.
Will My Health Insurance Pay for Me To Receive This Anti-Sweating Treatment?
In general, your health insurance will not pay for the cost of your anti-sweating treatment. However, under some circumstances, you may be able to use funds in a health savings account to cover your costs.
Reduce Your Unnecessary Sweating
Excessive sweating can cause you to strain your clothing, develop skin rashes, and withdraw from your social life. This problem may also cause you to have difficulty feeling confident in your workplace. MiraDry is a quick, easy treatment that can improve your sweating issues. To learn whether this sweat reduction method is right for you, contact us at Grossman Dermatology in Santa Monica, CA.
