Excessive sweating

Excessive sweating also known as hyperhidrosis. This is a very common problem in many people especially on the palms of hands, soles of the feet and under the arms. This can cause a lot of distress and embarrassment and have a major impact on day to day life. Excessive sweating means you would sweat a lot more than normal. Some treatments may be available on the NHS whereas some are a private option.

Localised hyperhidrosis this is the most common – it affects certain body sites i.e. palms of hands, soles of feet and underarms.

Generalised Hyperhidrosis this usually affects the whole body and can be caused by some illnesses and hormonal changes i.e. the menopause

Advice and tips

Excessive feet sweating

It can help by changing your socks

Wearing a different pair of shoes each day and airing your footwear

Make sure that when you wash you dry in between your toes

Avoid sports shoes and non leather shoes

Underarm sweating

Try using anti-perspirants as opposed to deodorants that can just mask unpleasant smells

Avoid tight clothing

Aluminium chloride is an active ingredient used in strong anti perspirants.

Trying to avoid situations that cause excessive sweating  e.g  avoiding spicy foods and alcohol

Treatments for Generalised Sweating

General advice is to wash regularly, wear loose cotton clothing.

Treating certain areas like the armpits can help e.g use of strong anti-perspirants like anhydrol.

This is usually tablets to control the nerves to the sweat glands e.g  Propantheline. They can have certain side effects like dry mouth but generally well tolerated and start to take full effect in 4-6 weeks. If the sweating is very severe you may be referred to see a surgeon for a procedure called a sympathectomy but is for very severe cases

Treatment for Localised Hyper-Hydrosis

Iontophoresis  is a treatment offered for excessive sweating to feet, hands and underarms. The treatment typically involves placing hands or feet into bowls with a small electrical current passing through the water from a specialised machine. It is unknown why this helps with over sweating but is thought to block the sweat glands.  We can offer private sessions here at Spa or you can be referred by your GP on the NHS for this. If beneficial you can go onto purchase an Iontophoresis box for home use.

Botulinum Toxin Injection  is a treatment  with  Botulinum toxin solution and is currently the best treatment for armpits and for severe palmar and plantar hyper-hydrosis. It is carried out by multiple small injections to the affected area most commonly underarms. This stops the nerves in the skin that control the sweat glands. Effects usually wear off after 4-6 months therefore treatment will need repeating when necessary.

  

We offer this effective procedure at Vitality Medical Spa. Results start after a few hours and last for months with no need for anti-perspirants.