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Exploring Surgery As A Treatment Option For Hyperhidrosis

By: Kelly Blue


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If you have tried every other type of hyperhidrosis treatment and received no measureable benefits, it may be time to try surgery. There are a number of surgical excessive sweating treatments out there. If you have hyperhidrosis, the best place to start would be to consult your physician.

Of those surgical treatments available, you will find those that include the removal of the sweat glands and a very specialized--and very risky--procedure called endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy or ETS. This last surgical option is one most physicians discourage. This is because ETS is considered more serious and there can be unpleasant side effects such as compensatory sweating.

Local surgeries are procedures that are performed directly at the area where sweat glands are excreting too much sweat, thus excessive sweating treatment is needed. The three types of local surgery approved for excessive sweating treatment are excision, curettage, and liposuction. All of them have been used to treat excessive underarm sweating. All options involve the removal of the body's sweat glands. For instance, in excision, the doctor cuts out the affected glands. Curettage is similar to excision but instead of cutting the glands the doctor would scrape them out. Finally, liposuction involves the removal of the sweat glands by suction.

As stated earlier, dermatological experts do not recommend the use of ETS as a standard excessive sweating treatment. Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is an invasive surgery in which the doctor is attempting to interrupt the transmission of nerve impulses in the spine to the glands. In effect, the surgery's purpose is to "turn off" these signals so they can't "turn on" the sweat glands.

ETS involves making an incision in the chest below the underarm and inserting a tiny camera. Once the camera is in place, one of the lungs will be collapsed to offer clear view to the nerve pathways so they can be eliminated to treat the hyperhidrosis. The surgery is performed on both sides of the body. ETS has been used mostly for the treatment of severe palm and underarm sweating.

The compensatory sweating mentioned above is a form of excessive sweating that may be a side effect of the surgery. It will often appear on the face, chest, back, abdomen, legs, and even buttocks. It is not uncommon for this secondary excessive sweating to be much worse in severity than the problem you had before surgery.

Understanding more about the surgical options, you may better understand what surgery will mean to you. Again, surgery should be the final category of options you pursue for excessive sweating treatment. It should to done only after other treatments like prescription strength antiperspirants, anticholinergics, iontophoresis, and Botox injections are tried first.

You should talk to your doctor before you begin making choices about what sort of surgery you wish to use to treat your hyperhidrosis condition. There are real risks involved when you opt to undergo hyperhidrosis surgery. Concerning ETS, you must definitely weigh the risks and rewards carefully. Remember, that is your doctor's professional responsibility to provide you with all the information you need to make the right decision about hyperhidrosis surgery. Simply taking the time to research the medical process behind the surgery can help you avoid unnecessary pain or discomfort in the future.

Article Source: http://depositarticles.com/

I love to help out and give out info i've found about new trends when it comes to hyperhidrosis. I've had the disorder and I've cured it..

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