Hyperhidrosis describes excessive sweating of varied sized areas of the skin.
Hyperhidrosis can be divided into generalised and focal. Focal hyperhidrosis describes excessive sweating of small circumscribed skin parts (i.e. palms, soles, armpits) and a generalised hyperhidrosis is excessive sweating of large body regions (i.e. head, chest, neck, stomach, thighs,…).
It is not only an aesthetic problem for people concerned, but can also affect their social and professional life.
What can cause hyperhidrosis?
We differentiate between a primary and secondary hyperhidrosis. No particular reasons can be found for the primary form, however there are a series of non-surgical and neurological illnesses, where hyperhidrosis is the first symptom (i.e. infections, adiposity, thyroid disease, diabetes, medicine, food,…).
How to treat hyperdrosis?
Before treatment, a diagnosis to exclude secondary form of hyperhidrosis might have to be worked out. If a secondary hyperhidrosis is detected, the treatment of the underlying disease can also reduce the production of excessive sweat.
By focal hyperhidrosis, local treatment methods can be offered. In less pronounced cases, the affected skin parts can be treated with different sweat-repressing ointments or diluted lotion. Controlled studies in the past few years showed, that the injection of botulinumtoxin under the skin, also indicates a clear improvement of the focal hyperhidrosis. An outstanding effect could especially be proven by auxiliary hyperhidrosis.
Botulinumtoxin by auxiliary hyperhidrosis
Botulinumtoxin is firstly diluted in a cooking salt solution and then injected into about 10 spots per armpit into the skin. The injections can mostly be performed without pre-treatment under a local anaesthetic, as the skin is very thin in this part of the body. A definite reduction of sweat in the pit area can be noticed in most cases after 2 to 3 days.
The sweat repressing effect lasts for about four to six months. A repeat treatment is necessary after eight to twelve months, to avoid a reduction of the effect.
