Overview of Hyperhidrosis Surgery

Causes of Heavy Sweating

Hyperhidrosis is caused either by a hyperactive or too many sweat glands. They work permanently and/or during psychological stress and/or physical exertion.

What to do with Sweat Glands Over Activity?

The symptoms are all too familiar: Moist/wet armpits, sweat running down, sweaty shirts, sweat stains, unpleasant smells.

Unpleasant Body Odour – Fighting Underarm Sweat

Normal sweating is a physiological process in which the body regulates its temperature.

Excessive sweating, for example in the armpit no longer has any function and is very unpleasant. This ranges from odour nuisance to sweat running down to permanent spots in clothing that are difficult to hide.

There are various ways of tackling underarm perspiration:

Aluminium-containing deodorants: They work more or less for a short time but are suspected of being harmful.

Botox: Botox blocks sweat production. Botulinum toxin is injected directly into the sweat glands in the armpit. The effect is reliable and lasts for about four months, If the patient does not want surgery, we can also offer this type of treatment.

The suction of the sweat glands: Cutting through the sympathetic nerve: Here the doctor cuts through the nerve that controls sweat production and all other automatic, autonomous controls for the arm and hand. This requires a surgical intervention, an operation, from the thoracic cavity, the thorax, this is offered in thoracic surgical clinics by an appropriate specialist.

How can this be Influenced?

Methods of relaxation and stress reduction certainly help to reduce the emotional cause of sweating. Whether this is enough, everyone must test it for themselves.

Aim of the Treatment of Sweat Gland Aspiration

We want to eliminate the excess of sweating. The “normal”, i.e. the physiological sweating that does not lead to the symptoms mentioned above, may remain, but does not have to remain. It is also possible to tackle the& embarrassment of sweating completely.

Procedure of Treatment

Treatment with Botox is simple and fast: the drug is injected into the axilla over a wide area. After a few days it starts to work, after two weeks the sweat glands are completely blocked for about four months.

The suction begins with the fact that in our clinic the armpits are anaesthetised with a special medication solution (tumescence) and prepared for the procedure. Then the suction cannula is inserted via a small stitch and the area is freed from the glands.

The following bandage additionally compresses the armpit for three days, so that the skin is applied.

The result of the sweat gland removal is permanent.

Follow-up Treatment

When our patients go home in Berlin, Germany, they get everything they need: Painkillers (little, it doesn’t hurt very much), my mobile number (just in case), good advice as well as check-ups.

Risks/Complications

After a sweat gland removal the patient sweats less and less. However, it may be discovered after the operation that the operation was not entirely successful because during the operation there is no way of checking whether everything has been “caught” during the procedure: sweat glands look exactly like the fat cells.

In the container in which the tissue is collected during the suction, both types of tissue look exactly the same. So some glands can “escape” and then you have to repeat the procedure.

When is it not Advisable to Undergo Surgery?

Serious underlying diseases prohibit the operation. Otherwise there are no contraindications against the removal of the sweat glands.

Costs/Reimbursement by the Health Insurance Company

As a rule, the costs are to be borne by the customer.

Further Information

The following authors have dealt extensively with the subject of sweat gland removal: S. Darabaneanu, R. M. de Rezende