Treatments for Excessive Sweating

Excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) can be a miserably debilitating condition. The significant limitations it imposes mean quality of life is compromised, as sufferers are unable to feel confident and comfortable when engaging in everyday activities.

Hyperhydrosis most commonly affects the under arms, the palms of the hands and soles of the feet. Patients have told me that they might develop sweat patches under the arms only five minutes after leaving for work in the morning - all year around, even in winter. Deciding what to wear - and what to leave off - becomes a real dilemma. Patients whose palms sweat excessively have told me that they are reluctant to shake someone's hand and may avoid physical contact entirely. Heartbreakingly, one mum couldn't even lead her three-year-old daughter safely across a busy street because the child's hand slipped too easily out of her wet palm. All this makes it clear how utterly debilitating this condition can be. But the good news is that it can be treated effectively.

Even if you don't suffer severe problems like those described above, it may still be worth coming along to chat about your options, since even patients with only mild excessive sweating have reported how much their quality of life has improved after treatment.

For the palms and soles as well as the underarms, topical solutions and special home-use iontophoresis machines (electrical impulse therapy) can help many patients and we can prescribe these for you.

Injections with botulinum toxin ('Botox') is an extremely effective option for the armpits which lasts for 6-12 months. Prior to the procedure, we apply a special numbing cream to make the treatment completely painless, and feedback from patients has been extremely positive. It's a life-changing treatment, we have been told repeatedly.