What is excessive sweating – Hyperhidrosis?
Sweating is a defense mechanism of our body. Sweating helps the body to cool down in very hot weather, while time removing harmful toxins from the body at the same time. However, especially in the young age group, sweating can be excessive and localized. People may experience excessive sweating in their hands (palms) and armpit area.
Excessive sweating can cause people to experience many problems in their daily lives. The person may have difficulty working at the workplace, paper documents may get wet, and the need to dry hands frequently may create difficulty in daily life of an individual. The person may feel discomfort shaking hands with others. Difficulties may increase in an individuals’ social life.
What are the symptoms of hyperhidrosis – excessive sweating?
Hyperhidrosis is recognized by complaints such as:
– excessive sweating, cooling, sometimes flushing of the hands and armpits
– flushing, sweating and hot flushes
Individuals with hyperhidrosis can complain from their hands or armpits constantly being moist and wet, limiting their daily life. These people may face uncomfortable situations such as changing clothes frequently, avoiding shaking hands, wetting the paper while writing, etc.
How to treat excessive sweating – hyperhidrosis?
Although some medical drugs, lotions and creams are used in the treatment of regional hyperhidrosis, patients generally do not get a satisfactory response from such treatment methods. Although with regional botox the nerve to the hand and armpit is blocked, this procedure is both laborious and the duration of effect is limited to months.
In the treatment of hyperhidrosis, ‘thoracic sympathectomy’ surgery, which is based on cutting or clipping a part of the nerve in the chest, which we call the sympathetic nerve that stimulates the sweat glands that cause excessive sweating and preventing it from functioning, is performed. This surgery is also called “Clipped ETS Method”. This operation is performed thoracoscopically, under general anesthesia, through a small incision done at the armpit area of the individual, in the same session for both sides.
Immediately after the operation, the patient notices that the sweating stops and their hands become warmer. After clip-on ETS surgery, patients stay in the hospital for only one day and can return to their daily lives the next.
ETS surgery can cure excessive hand and armpit sweating and partially facial sweating. It will not help sweating in other parts of the body (back, feet, etc.).-
Is ETS surgery harmful?
Cutting or clipping the nerve during the ETS Method has no harm or effect on the patient’s hand, arm movements or senses, and corrects the patient’s complaints by 90-95%. A rare possibility seen in patients, sweating in the hands and armpits may improve after surgery, while sweating in other parts of the body such as the groin and legs may increase.
