From botox to diet, there are many cures for excessive sweating. Nicole Matthews reports on curing a problem that affects 1-5 per cent of the population on a daily basis
Many of us associate sweating with being in the gym, on holidays or feeling under stress. But for 1-5 per cent of the population, sweating is a problem that affects their lives, both professionally and socially on a day-to-day basis.
The good news is that there are now treatments available to counter this condition known as hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating, for which there is no known single cause.
There are two types of hyperhidrosis: generalised and localised or focal. The first is rare where excessive sweating occurs over the whole body and is usually symptomatic of an underlying condition such as thyroid disease. The second, localised, is far more common where excessive sweating is localised in one or more parts of the body such as the armpits, hands, groin, feet or face.
A GP in the Morehampton Clinic, Dublin, Dr John O'Keefe set up www.sweating.ie, a website dedicated to those who suffer from excessive sweating. He explains that the measures he recommends to his patients are based on where the sweating is occurring: "The first thing we suggest for hands and armpits is Driclor or Anhydrol forte which can be effective for many people if used twice a week," he says.
These are both anti-perspirants available in most pharmacies without prescription and contain chloral hydrate which is proven to stop sweating. However, many cases of hyperhidrosis require stronger measures to alleviate the problem.
For armpit sweating, also known as axillary hyperhidrosis, botox injections are the most successful way of stopping sweating. Generally, a course of 40 injections of botox are administered which combats the problem in patients for six-eight months.
Dr Patrick Treacy, a GP with the Ailesbury Clinic in Dublin, performed 15 such procedures in one week recently, and explains that cost is the most prohibitive factor for many clients.
"Ireland is the only country in the western world where the cost of this treatment is not covered by the state-funded medical service like in the US and UK, as VHI and Bupa do not recognise it as a medical condition but a cosmetic condition," says Treacy.
Due to its success rate, The Irish Medicines Board granted a licence to the use of botox in the treatment of armpit hyperhidrosis. The director of human medicines at the Irish Medicines Board, Dr Joan Gilvarry, explains: "The licence for botox was amended in 2003 to include the treatment of persistent severe primary hyperhidrosis of the axillae, which interferes with the activities of daily living and is resistant to topical treatment."
Botox is not, however, generally used for treating hands, feet or facial areas. Botox works in two ways and can paralyse either a sweat gland or a muscle.
"As there are no muscles in the armpit there is no risk, but in other areas such as the hands there is a risk of muscle damage as the muscles and sweat glands lie side by side," Tracey says. "The risks involved with feet or hands are [ that] it's painful and could weaken the muscles."
O'Keefe recommends a treatment called Iontophoresis for palmar/hands or feet sweating.
"The hands or feet are placed in water for 30 minutes and a gentle electric current is passed through the water. Ions are delivered to the skin which have a negative charge. Giving the skin a positive charge stops sweating."
Surgery is the last resort that is recommended by doctors but in many extreme cases it is necessary with approximately 5 per cent of patients taking this course of action. It involves a vascular surgeon performing a sympathectomy procedure or clipping the nerve that leads to the sweat gland. While many people have successfully undergone surgery there are risks, including compensatory sweating, where sweating will occur heavily in another area, damage to the lungs and Horner's syndrome. It must also be remembered that surgery is a permanent procedure and irreversible.
Hypnosis has also been found to be successful on treating excessive sweating and related conditions such as blushing. Dr Joseph Keaney of the Institute of Clinical Hypnotherapy & Psychotherapy treats almost 10 clients a week with this problem.
"I perform hypnosis and hypno-analysis. Hypnosis allows suggestions to be delivered to the person whereas hypno-analysis is a regression into the past to find and remove the causes of the problem," says Keaney. However, not all hypnotists are trained in this condition, so anybody interested should check the register of trained hypnotists on the institute's website.
The easiest measures to take are choosing light fabrics such as cotton and avoiding spicy foods, coffee and alcohol.