Antiperspirants

Excessive sweating can be controlled with some strong antiperspirants that will block and clog the sweat glands. Products containing 10 to 15% aluminum chloride hexahydrate are the first treatment option for underarm sweating. Physicians may recommend products containing higher doses of aluminum hydroxide to be applied to the affected areas at night for some patients. Antiperspirants can irritate the skin, and high doses of aluminum chloride can damage clothing.

Deodorants do not prevent perspiration, but they can help reduce body odor.

Medication

Some anticholinergic drugs can help block the stimulation of sweat glands. Although they are effective in some patients, their effectiveness in preventing sweating has not been studied as well as their effectiveness in other areas. It has side effects such as dry mouth, dizziness, and difficulty urinating.

Iontophoresis

This method is a method approved by the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), based on the temporary closure of sweat glands with the help of electric current. It is the most effective method to prevent sweating in hands and feet. The hands or feet are placed in the water and a gentle electric current is applied to the hands and feet. The current is gradually increased and the patient feels a slight tingling. The treatment takes about 10-20 minutes and needs to be repeated in certain periods. In very rare cases, it may cause cracking or irritation on the skin.

Botulinum toxin administration

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved this method in the treatment of primary axillary hyperhidrosis, that is, severe sweating in the armpits, in 2004. Small doses of purified Botulinum toxin injected into the armpits temporarily block the nerves that stimulate sweating. Side effects may include pain at the injection site and flu-like symptoms. If botulinum toxin is considered to be applied to other areas with excessive sweating, a physician should be consulted in detail on this issue. Botulinum toxin applied to prevent sweating in the palms can cause a mild but temporary feeling of weakness and intense pain.

Surgical Intervention / Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS)

In very serious cases, a surgical procedure called a sympathectomy may be recommended. With this method, the neural transmission signal that causes excessive sweating in the body is canceled. ETS procedure is applied to the patient under general anesthesia. In this method, one or two small incisions are made in the armpit, and the nerves that cause excessive sweating are identified and eliminated with the help of a small camera called an endoscope. Breathing is returned to normal and the wound is sutured. The same procedure is applied to the other armpit. The process takes about half an hour. The patient is usually discharged the next day, but the pain from the operation may persist for up to a week. ETS operations require special training, especially it is applied to patients whose palms sweat excessively. It does not give such good results in patients with underarm sweating. Sweating reappears in approximately 50% of patients.