No Sweat

The medical name for excessive perspiration is hyperhidrosis. It’s sweat that soaks through clothing causing constant inconvenience and embarrassment. Although the condition is fairly common, dealing with it has never been easy… until now.

Tim sweats — a lot. It gets in the way of his work as a hairstylist and his life in general. “I end up changing my shirt two to three times a day at my shop when I’m cutting hair just to feel clean and look clean,” says Tim. “It’s very embarrassing. It’s a very uncomfortable thing to go through.”

Then Dr. came up with an idea — Botulinum Toxin, or Botox. It’s commonly used in rehab medicine to control spasms by blocking nerve messages. He thought it would also block messages between nerves and sweat glands.

The Botulinum Toxin is injected in the underarm area. Dr. says the procedure is fast, easy and almost risk-free. “It’s the most potential biologic toxin known to man, but in a very dilute situation, it can be used therapeutically. It’s very dilute when we inject it in the axillary areas. It just stops sweating very effectively,” Dr. says.

Tim says, “It eliminated the sweat 98.7 percent. I didn’t have to change my shirts anymore.”

The downside is that Botox is expensive. A treatment costs $350 to $400, and because the effect wears off, it needs to be repeated two to three times a year. Yet, for Tim and others like him, freedom from sweating may be worth it.

Americans spend more than a half billion dollars annually on sweat-reducing products. That’s a lot of money just to avoid sweating.

While Botox can be toxic, it is safe in small doses. Other treatments for hyperhidrosis include surgery or liposuction to remove underarm sweat glands and topical preparations.