AgentBauer
New member
I was cured of my hyperhidrosis in June 2005. Yesterday, a friend of mine, who may suffer from hyperhidrosis, was complaining about how much his hands sweat. It prompted me to look up some information for him tonight, and I decided to post on this forum since it seems many people here are suffering from the same problem I was.
I started suffering from Hyperhidrosis in 2000 when I was in 7th grade. It was mostly armpit sweating, occasionally hand sweating, and no facial sweating. It started gradually, but by the summer of 2002, not even Drysol, the prescription deodorant prescribed by my doctor, could stop my underarms from sweating. Literally within minutes of putting on a shirt, I would have 6-7 inch diameter spots on under my arms. It was visible even with my hands down, that's how much the shirt soaked it up. By the end of 2003, I my hands had also started sweating, so much so that I was afraid to shake hands with anyone, or square dance in gym class. Again, I tried more deodorants that didn't work, among other things. I would go a period of months trying to figure out a solution, then give up, then start trying again. Finally, in spring of 2005, my mom was overheard at work talking to me about my sweating problem. Her friend, who had heard what she was saying, told her that her daughter had suffered from the same problem and had had it solved with surgery that worked very well.
It turns out this surgery involves making a small (about 1/2" long) incision under each armpit and under each nipple on the chest, feed a fiber optic tube and some sort of cutting device in, and cut a certain nerve that ends the sweating. We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance and they covered the insurance completely. They did not see it as cosmetic. I had the surgery toward the end of June 2005, when I was 18 years old. As soon as I woke up in the hospital bed after the surgery, the surgeon was holding my hands and I could feel how dry they felt against his. I was amazed. He told me the hands have a 80-85% success rate with the surgery, and then armpits a 75% chance. To this day my hands and underarms have been 100% sweat free. My underarms still have the ability to smell (which is weird) if I don't wear deodorant, but even during a hard workout, they don't sweat. I have not had a drop of sweat on any shirt, no matter how tight the shirt, how many shirts i was wearing, how how it was, etc. Sometimes in the winter my hands get a little dry, but using lotion a couple times a day cures it completely. During the first year, I would feel like I was sweating and my armpits were soaking wet, and I'd run into the bathroom to look in the mirror and theyd be completely dry, it was just a funny side effect.
Side effects (for me)
Short term: a lot of physical upper body pain 2-3 days after surgery, grogginess from anesthetic
Long term: during intense workouts, I sweat like a pig, more than I used to (at least it seems), but unless I'm running for a while, lifting weights, or doing hard manual labor, I don't sweat. Also, I have a tiny 1/2" long scar under each nipple. The left scar is invisible unless your eyes are only a few inches away, and the right scar, half of it is pretty much invisible and the other 1/4" has healed to the point where it just looks like a minor skin discoloration.
Overall the surgery was a miracle for me. The main reason I wrote this post is because I'm so grateful for what this surgery did for me, and I hope it can help others. I know there are not an awful lot of thorasic surgeons that do this type of surgery, and if your insurance doesn't cover it, I was told it runs between 9 and 10 thousand dollars, but its definitely worth reading up on. I am in the Rochester area but the doctor who did my surgery has since retired. If anyone would like more information, I can ask my parents and get back to you. Also, if anyone wants to see a picture of the scars, to see how minor they are, I don't mind posting (I'm a male, so if my nipple is in the pic, don't freak out). Good luck to everyone with this, it's a real pain in the ass, I know.
I started suffering from Hyperhidrosis in 2000 when I was in 7th grade. It was mostly armpit sweating, occasionally hand sweating, and no facial sweating. It started gradually, but by the summer of 2002, not even Drysol, the prescription deodorant prescribed by my doctor, could stop my underarms from sweating. Literally within minutes of putting on a shirt, I would have 6-7 inch diameter spots on under my arms. It was visible even with my hands down, that's how much the shirt soaked it up. By the end of 2003, I my hands had also started sweating, so much so that I was afraid to shake hands with anyone, or square dance in gym class. Again, I tried more deodorants that didn't work, among other things. I would go a period of months trying to figure out a solution, then give up, then start trying again. Finally, in spring of 2005, my mom was overheard at work talking to me about my sweating problem. Her friend, who had heard what she was saying, told her that her daughter had suffered from the same problem and had had it solved with surgery that worked very well.
It turns out this surgery involves making a small (about 1/2" long) incision under each armpit and under each nipple on the chest, feed a fiber optic tube and some sort of cutting device in, and cut a certain nerve that ends the sweating. We have Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance and they covered the insurance completely. They did not see it as cosmetic. I had the surgery toward the end of June 2005, when I was 18 years old. As soon as I woke up in the hospital bed after the surgery, the surgeon was holding my hands and I could feel how dry they felt against his. I was amazed. He told me the hands have a 80-85% success rate with the surgery, and then armpits a 75% chance. To this day my hands and underarms have been 100% sweat free. My underarms still have the ability to smell (which is weird) if I don't wear deodorant, but even during a hard workout, they don't sweat. I have not had a drop of sweat on any shirt, no matter how tight the shirt, how many shirts i was wearing, how how it was, etc. Sometimes in the winter my hands get a little dry, but using lotion a couple times a day cures it completely. During the first year, I would feel like I was sweating and my armpits were soaking wet, and I'd run into the bathroom to look in the mirror and theyd be completely dry, it was just a funny side effect.
Side effects (for me)
Short term: a lot of physical upper body pain 2-3 days after surgery, grogginess from anesthetic
Long term: during intense workouts, I sweat like a pig, more than I used to (at least it seems), but unless I'm running for a while, lifting weights, or doing hard manual labor, I don't sweat. Also, I have a tiny 1/2" long scar under each nipple. The left scar is invisible unless your eyes are only a few inches away, and the right scar, half of it is pretty much invisible and the other 1/4" has healed to the point where it just looks like a minor skin discoloration.
Overall the surgery was a miracle for me. The main reason I wrote this post is because I'm so grateful for what this surgery did for me, and I hope it can help others. I know there are not an awful lot of thorasic surgeons that do this type of surgery, and if your insurance doesn't cover it, I was told it runs between 9 and 10 thousand dollars, but its definitely worth reading up on. I am in the Rochester area but the doctor who did my surgery has since retired. If anyone would like more information, I can ask my parents and get back to you. Also, if anyone wants to see a picture of the scars, to see how minor they are, I don't mind posting (I'm a male, so if my nipple is in the pic, don't freak out). Good luck to everyone with this, it's a real pain in the ass, I know.
