Excess underarm sweating can affect work productivity, confidence, social comfort and your wardrobe choice for both men and women. Studies have shown it can significantly reduce quality of life, similar to that of other well-known skin disorders such as acne/psoriasis.
Botulinum toxin is FDA approved for the treatment if underarm sweating because it's safe and highly effective.
Botulinum toxin works by temporarily blocking the hormone(acetylcholine) that is responsible for turning on the body’s sweat glands. By blocking this hormone/chemical messenger, botulinum toxin can turn off sweating in the area it is injected into.
This treatment can reduce sweating in the underarm area by up to 80% for both men and women alike, the results become noticeable after 3-4 days and reach full effect at approximately 2 weeks and last on average 5-6 months, after which time sweating gradually restarts again.
It is important to note that sweating is an essential body function for temperature control and detoxification, however localised areas only house a small number of glands- the underarms contains approximately 2% of the body’s sweat glands, therefore temporary cessation of these sweat glands has little effect on the regulation of body temperature.
The treatment itself takes approx. 20 minutes.
Ideally the patient shaves the area 3-4 days beforehand.
Topical numbing cream can be applied to the armpits for 30 minutes if the patient is nervous of needles.
Each armpit is cleaned, disinfected and mapped in a grid like pattern and small depots of botulinum toxin are injected 1-2 cm apart.
A ‘Top-up’ Treatment is carried out after 2 Weeks, which allows us re-treat any persistent areas of sweating, resulting in better and longer lasting results.
There is little or no downtime/discomfort after the treatment.
After the treatment we advise patients to keep the injected area clean, avoid any strenuous exercise and hot tubs/jacuzzies/saunas/steam rooms.