Should You Risk Surgery To Control Excessive Sweating

Once you’ve exhausted most of the other excessive sweating treatment options available for hyperhidrosis, and haven’t found relief for excessive sweating, you may be forced to go under the knife.

There are a number of surgical excessive sweating treatments out there.  If you have hyperhidrosis, the best place to start would be to consult your physician. 

Of those surgical treatments available, you will find those that include the removal of the sweat glands and a very specialized—and very risky—procedure called endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy or ETS.  ETS is not something usually recommended by doctors, unless it is a last resort.  This is because ETS is considered more serious and there can be unpleasant side effects such as compensatory sweating.

Those surgeries deemed local are those that are performed directly at the area where 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 options involve the removal of the body’s sweat glands.  For instance, in excision, the doctor cuts out the affected glands.  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.  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.  In effect, the surgery’s purpose is to “turn off” these signals so they can’t “turn on” the sweat glands.

ETS is an invasive surgery since it requires cutting into the chest via the armpit and inserting a tiny camera.  Additionally, one of the lungs is collapsed to give physicians access to the proper nerve paths in order to destroy them and provide a permanent excessive sweating treatment.  The surgery is typically performed on both sides of the body.  ETS is usually focused on the treatment of excessive sweating in the palms and underarms. 

Compensatory sweating, which was mentioned above, is one of the potential side effects of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy.  It will affect parts of the body including the face, the back, the chest, legs, abdomen, 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.  As an excessive sweating treatment, surgery really should be the final option.  It should to done only after other treatments like prescription strength antiperspirants, anticholinergics, iontophoresis, and Botox injections are tried first.

Should be interested in surgery to treat hyperhidrosis symptoms, then you must talk to your doctor before making final decisions.  There are real risks involved when you opt to undergo hyperhidrosis surgery.  Don’t be hasty in making a decision about surgery, especially when ETS is concerned.  Remember, that is your doctor’s professional responsibility to provide you with all the information you need to make the right decision about hyperhidrosis surgery.  Simply taking the time to research the medical process behind the surgery can help you avoid unnecessary pain or discomfort in the future.

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