Hyperhidrosis is a condition characterized by excessive sweating, affecting either the whole body or a specific area, most commonly the underarms. It can really become a serious issue and thankfully there are many treatment options.

It is generally divided into two types:

• Generalized Hyperhidrosis – In this condition, excessive sweating occurs on the entire body.
• Focal Hyperhidrosis – In this form, excessive sweating occurs on a particular section of the body, such as the underarms, hands, feet, or both the hands/feet.

Causes
While there is no obvious cause for the onset of this medical condition, it may result from a specific one. Some of the most commonly known triggers include:

• Various medications
• Menopause or Pregnancy
• Overactive Thyroid Glands
• Anxiety
• Infections
• Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar levels)

Under normal circumstances, the nervous system activates your sweat glands when your body’s temperature rises – local nerves signal the glands that it is time to produce sweat. This is the body’s natural means of cooling itself – however, when an individual suffers from hyperhidrosis, these nerves become overactive, and falsely signal for sweat to be produced, and at a much higher rate.

Treatment
Hyperhidrosis can be treated using a few different methods, depending upon the specific cause of your case, as well as the severity.

While lifestyle changes can help some people to see improvement, most patients will require treatment using other, stronger methods, these include the use of certain topicals solutions or oral medications, including beta-blockers, and anticholinergics designed to inhibit the nerves that signal us to sweat. One of the most interesting new treatments has been the use of Botox in order to treat your overactive sweat glands. Learn more below!

Botox for Hyperhidrosis
Yes, the very same Botox that is considered to be one of the most popular and effective treatments for relieving us of wrinkles and expression lines, is now considered one of the best methods for treating hyperhidrosis or overactive sweat glands.

How Does it Work?
The active ingredient in Botox is the botulinum toxin-A, designed to cause temporary paralysis of muscles, preventing them from moving for a period of time. Using the same principle, Botox is able to relieve our overactive sweat glands.

Botox works by blocking the nerves that are responsible for activating our sweat glands. As we discussed previously, the nervous system activates the sweat glands when the body becomes hot. Local nerves signal these glands to produce sweat in an effort to cool the body down. When these nerves become overactive, an individual develops hyperhidrosis.

When Botox is injected directly into the underarm’s nerves (which are supposed to signal the sweat glands), it paralyzes them. Essentially, because the nerves are paralyzed, they can no longer signal your sweat glands and you are prevented from sweating.
The most common areas for Botox treatment of excessive sweating include:

• Armpits
• Hands
• Feet

For more information about Hyperhidrosis, or to schedule a consultation, contact Pura Dermatology today.

DISCLAIMER: All information described here is a guideline. For true diagnosis and treatment, evaluation with a physician is mandatory. Treatments and symptoms discussed here are also a guideline and do not represent all treatments or all symptoms for any condition.