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  • Exploring Surgery As A Treatment Option For Hyperhidrosis  By : Kelly Blue
    Once you've exhausted most of the other treatment options available for hyperhidrosis, and haven't found relief for excessive sweating, you may be forced to go under the knife. You might be surprised to learn that there are few surgical options for the treatment of excessive sweating available. If you suffer from the condition known as hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating, then you should really begin by talking to your doctor about the remaining options.

    You should know up front that there are surgical options for excessive treatment that involve the removal of the body's sweat glands to more serious and invasive procedures like ETS, which is short for endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. This last surgical option is one most physicians discourage. This is because ETS is considered more serious and there can be unpleasant side effects such as compensatory sweating.

    Local surgeries are procedures that are performed directly at the area where sweat glands are excreting too much sweat, thus excessive sweating treatment is needed. Currently, there are three basic local surgical techniques: excision, curettage, and liposuction. All three are used primarily to treat extreme underarm sweating. All involve the removal of the sweat glands. Excision is literally cutting out the sweat glands that are producing too much moisture. Curettage, on the other hand, is less about cutting that it is scraping out the sweat glands. Liposuction is easy enough to understand; in this surgery, the sweat glands are removed with suction.

    As stated earlier, dermatological experts do not recommend the use of ETS as a standard excessive sweating treatment. Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is an invasive surgery in which the doctor is attempting to interrupt the transmission of nerve impulses in the spine to the glands. By interrupting these nerve impulses, the surgery effectively stops the sweat glands from working--and overworking.

    ETS is an invasive surgery since it requires cutting into the chest via the armpit and inserting a tiny camera. Once the camera is in place, one of the lungs will be collapsed to offer clear view to the nerve pathways so they can be eliminated to treat the hyperhidrosis. If ETS is performed, both sides of the body will receive the same treatment. In most cases, ETS is used to treat palm and underarm hyperhidrosis.

    Compensatory sweating, which was mentioned above, is one of the potential side effects of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. It may occur on the face, chest, back, abdomen, legs, and buttocks. Compensatory sweating is a condition that may end up being more severe than the sweating that led you to seek surgery in the first place.

    Understanding more about the surgical options, you may better understand what surgery will mean to you. Again, surgery should be the final category of options you pursue for excessive sweating treatment. It should to done only after other treatments like prescription strength antiperspirants, anticholinergics, iontophoresis, and Botox injections are tried first.

    You should talk to your doctor before you begin making choices about what sort of surgery you wish to use to treat your hyperhidrosis condition. There are real risks involved when you opt to undergo hyperhidrosis surgery. It should not be chosen lightly, especially in the case of ETS. The doctor will be able to explain the full range of options available to you so you do not make hasty decisions. You probably understand that spending a little time examining what is entailed with surgery may help you avoid a mistake with far-reaching consequences.
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