Whether or not you agree with people using it, it is impossible to deny that there are now large numbers of people who have Botox in order to use it to remove those wrinkles and lines – but what people often do not realise is that Botox can be used as a medical treatment, such as for excessive sweating.

The FDA approved Botox as a treatment for excessive sweating over a decade ago in 2004, and for people who go through medical grade antiperspirant within a week this can really change their lives. What Botox is able to do is block the sweat glands in the body, preventing them from even making any sweat for up to one year after treatment.

Now, this can be used as a cosmetic thing, such as by brides on their wedding day because they want to make sure that they do not overheat and get their gown dirty, but it is estimated that one in three people in the American population actually suffer from excessive sweating.

Botox For Sweating

The official name for excessive sweating is hyperhidrosis, and this can occur in many parts of the body not just underneath the arms – face, feet, hands, and groin are just a few examples. Those who have it do not just sweat when it is very warm, but continuously, and far more than other people.

Many people will not actually realise that they have a medical condition: they will have always sweated like that, and will just assume that it is completely healthy. That is just how they are. Often it is only when they begin to notice that other people are not sweating nearly as much as they are that they realise that there is something different about them.

How Does it Work?

Botox does not destroy or kill the sweat glands in our body, but it does block them or switch them off, so the body does not feel the need to make more sweat. The chemical reactions are slowed down and then prevented by two weeks after the treatment, although after a year the treatment will cease to work, and the patient will need to have another treatment.

The procedure is very simple. The practitioner who is administering the Botox will create a grid of dots on the area that requires treatment, probably only around 1 cm apart, so that they cover the entire area to prevent sweating. Around 100 units of Botox will be required for two underarms, which may sound a lot but any less will probably not create the desired effect.

Although the treatment does not go very deep underneath the skin, most administrators of Botox prefer to use a numbing cream on their patients so that they do not need to worry about any pain. For a truly skilled Botox professional, they can have two underarms completed in less than ten minutes, which is great for patients who are wary of needles – it can be over quickly!

What About Side Effects?

95% of people who receive Botox report that they have complete satisfaction, which makes Botox one of the most safe and effective courses of treatment that is available. Its predictability is what makes it so trusted by doctors and patients alike, and apart from a small amount of bruising, patients do not really notice any side effects.

And Does it Actually Work?

Botox underneath the arms for excessive underarm sweating has an 87% complete success rate, allowing patients who have never been able to go to the gym for a full on workout before because they were so embarrassed about their excessive sweating to go, and push themselves harder and faster than they ever have been before. They can enjoy wearing whatever they want, and going wherever they want, and doing whatever they want, because they do not have to worry or be self-conscious about their excessive sweating anymore. This treatment plan can really release people who have felt restricted by their medical condition for so long.

Patients should wait for up to two weeks in order to feel the full effects of the treatment, but by the third day they will already be able to notice drastic improvement. This should last for months, though of course the exact amount of time will always vary depending on the patient, and their natural metabolic response. People that exercise frequently or who suffer a great deal amount of stress will find that their treatment does not last as long as other people.

Try it For Yourself

Some patients are concerned about something called compensatory sweating. This means that because your body realises that it can no longer sweat through your underarms because it is being prevented from doing so by the Botox, in order to cool your body down it will try and sweat excessively somewhere else on your body, such as the patients’ feet or hands. However, for most people this simply does not happen. In the rare cases that patients do notice a subtle shift in the way that their body works, it is easy enough for their doctor to prescribe Botox in those areas too, although the success rate for feet is not as high.

As hyperhidrosis is a medical condition, many people will be able to receive Botox as a treatment under their health insurance, which means that they can truly change their lives for the better without any cost.

Would you like to be able to inject your patients to treat excessive sweating? If so, register for Dr. Katz’s Botox program here.