Are You Thinking About Surgery to Treat Excessive Sweating
Posted by on June 16, 2009
When it is clear that other excessive sweating treatment options are not providing results, you might need to consider surgical options.
There are different surgical treatments that have been developed to deal with hyperhidrosis. If you have hyperhidrosis, the best place to start would be to consult your physician.
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. ETS is not something usually recommended by doctors, unless it is a last resort. It is considered a last resort because of the serious side effects of the procedure, such as compensatory sweating.
Those surgeries deemed local are those that are performed directly at the area where excessive sweating treatment is needed. There three surgical techniques that are performed locally: excision, curettage, and liposuction. All three are used primarily to treat extreme underarm sweating. All options involve the removal of the body’s sweat glands. For instance, in excision, the doctor cuts out the affected glands. With curettage, the process is more of a controlled scraping of the sweat glands. Finally, liposuction involves the removal of the sweat glands by suction.
As far as excessive sweating treatment is concerned, it is for good reason that skin doctors discourage ETS as a surgery option for hyperhidrosis. The process of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is an invasive surgery where the physician attempts to block or impede the transmission of nerve impulses from the spinal column to the sweat glands. As a result, the surgery will effectively deactivate the signals so the sweat glands will not function.
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.
The side effects of ETS known as compensatory sweating have been mentioned in passing. It will affect parts of the body including the face, the back, the chest, legs, abdomen, and buttocks. It is not uncommon for this secondary excessive sweating to be much worse in severity than the problem you had before surgery.
With the options listed, it might be a good time to think about what surgery might mean for you personally. It may be more understandable why surgery is better saved as a last option when trying to find an 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 excessive sweating 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. Your physician should be competent to explain all of your options so that you make the right choice. Simply taking the time to research the medical process behind the surgery can help you avoid unnecessary pain or discomfort in the future.
