Excessive sweating, also known as hyperhidrosis, is a medical condition in which certain areas of the body sweats beyond the normal physiological needs. The most commonly encountered representation of this problem is increased sweating of the hands or feet though other areas could also be affected. The person sweats without any identifiable reason like anxiety or physical activity through the course of the day; most often, this condition is not present at night times. Apart from the hands and feet, patients are also known to sweat excessively at the armpits and in some cases facial sweating or blushing also occurs.
There are many treatment modalities that offer temporary as well as permanent cure for the sweating sickness. Some doctors prescribe oral medications to combat excessive sweating and these include Ditropan, Probanthine and Robinul, all of which have an anti-cholinergic effect which can block the nervous transmission in the sympathetic chain. These drugs provide only temporary relief and the success rate has been known to be very limited. Antiperspirants are also a temporary way by which you can control the excess sweating. Apart from those available in supermarkets and department stores, there are also medicated antiperspirants like Maxim and SweatBlock which can be bought in medical stores or through online shopping sites. Again these are an effective way for preventing sweating temporarily but do not offer a lasting cure.
Botox injections are also a recommended treatment method for sweating sickness especially that of the armpits. This injection is basically the inactivated botulinum toxin which when administered intradermally can offer relief up to six months. But this therapy did not yield much success for plantar or palmar hyperhidrosis. Another treatment option available is Iontophoresis in which the patient has to immerse his hands and feet in a machine which produces electric currents that can disrupt the activity of the sweat glands. But like all other methods, this too gives only a temporary cure and has to be done many times to achieve success.
The only permanent cure known to address excessive sweating is the sympathectomy surgery especially ETS or endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy. This is advised as the last resort as it is a difficult surgery to perform; a lot of refinements have been carried out in this method to make it easier for the person and also to avoid unnecessary trauma. Basically what happens is that the sympathetic chain segment responsible for this condition residing within the chest cavity is eliminated offering complete and permanent cure to the patient. But this surgery has to be performed only by well experienced surgeons as it is a complicated one.
Excessive sweating is also known as hyperhidrosis medically. Though there are many treatment options available for curing sweating sickness, only ETS or endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is known for the best service
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