Considering ETS

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Tranxene
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:02 pm

Considering ETS

Post by Tranxene »

I have palmo/plantar & a little axillary HH. I am aware of the side effects of this surgery, but have seen that some people have gotten good results out of surgery and feel like I might be willing to go with the risk.

The feet sweating I can live with, but the palms is just too troubling.

This is a HH clinic that I am considering to go to:

http://www.torontosweatclinic.com/index.html

The cost of the surgery is 100% covered and is performed by this Dr:

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/8 ... ke-ON.html

He seems to have pretty good ratings and if you read the reviews you'll see some positive stories from people with palmo/plantar HH.

I want to ask people who've had this procedure done, do you think it's a good idea for me to go through with this? I'm only 19, but this condition is making it really difficult to function in society. I've tried iontophoresis already and it does help, but just isn't enough.

Thank you.

slovenec
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:19 am

Re: Considering ETS

Post by slovenec »

I completely understand your troubles and your motives. I suffered from very bad palmar HH for the first 25 years of my life and from plantar HH for the first 41 years.
Unfortunately you must know that the ETS is a bit of a gamble. Almost all who had ETS suffer from CS which can be anything from unpleasant to unbearable. The severity of this side effect cannot be predicted and unfortunately it seems that no method (however new, modern and minimally aggressive) is able to guarantee that the CS will remain at tolerable levels.

My palmar HH was so horrible (constant dripping of the sweat from the moment I woke up to the moment I slept - from the very moment that I was born) that I was unable to live with and I was prepared to risk everything. The non-invasive methods were losing their effect and have become a real pain after several years of different therapies. The ETS turned out a miracle, almost certainly the best decision in my life, but I thank God every day that I am not one of the 2-5% whose life becomes unbearable after ETS due to horrible CS.

I've been following the medical literature and the HH forums for the last 20 years and it seems that there is no definite answer to your question. There is some anecdotal evidence which seems impossible to prove scientifically but goes like this: As a rule the results of ETS are favourable for people with really bad palmo-plantar HH and no other problems (ie. facial, armpit HH, even minor psychological troubles, drug abuse, thyroid problems, overweight, ...). Additionally no more than one ganglion per side should be done: at the moment it seems to be the T3 ganglion.

Tranxene
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:02 pm

Re: Considering ETS

Post by Tranxene »

I'm just surprised because he is an ETS surgeon and there isn't a single bad review made about his ETS surgery.

Then I looked at reviews for other ETS surgeons in the area and I see what I had expected (complications)


for ex

http://www.ratemds.com/doctor-ratings/8 ... rk-ON.html


Maybe this Dr.Irshad knows what he's doing, and it's really tempting because it's fully covered.


Edit: Also I had a question for you since you say you have had the surgery. Does it interrupt the fight/flight response? i.e, do you still get heart palpitations or are easily stressed (assuming you were before) and if you do how does it compare to how it was before the surgery?

slovenec
Posts: 54
Joined: Sun Jan 27, 2013 2:19 am

Re: Considering ETS

Post by slovenec »

My only side effects from the ETS were CS and a slightly lower heart rate while resting. The CS appeared about a year after the surgery and was quite unpleasant for about 5 or 6 years. Now, 16 years after ETS it is almost gone and present only in extreme conditions. The lower heart rate was never problematic. I exercise a lot and I never experienced any changes in my physical abilities. I suffer from no additional side effects from ELS (which I had this April) so far.

It is very difficult if impossible to recommend ETS. If you do decide for the surgery, pick a surgeon who identifies a single ganglion and does not just cut/clamp the chain from one rib to another. In the recent years too many surgeons simplified the surgery to the point where they don't know which and how many ganglia are destroyed. They simply burn/clamp the chain between two consecutive ribs. The anatomy of every person is different. I had a chance to talk to dr. Tarfusser this April and he told me the anecdote about the famous dr. Lin from Taiwan. Dr. Lin invented a new classification for different sorts of HH problems and claimed that clamping T4 is enough to stop the palmar HH. Dr. Tarfusser was very surprised because the experience from his 3000+ sympathectomies showed that in most cases clamping T4 only does not cure sweaty palms. Later he attended a congress where dr. Lin did a live surgery and it turned out that dr. Lin simply clamps that chain over the fourth rib without removing the pleura and without finding the ganglion. Luckily, in most people the T3 ganglion lies somewhere close to the fourth rib and thus the ETS has the desired effect anyway.

AllSweaty
Posts: 18
Joined: Mon Jun 17, 2013 7:51 am

Re: Considering ETS

Post by AllSweaty »

slovenec, ETS and ELS? You're brave hhehehe. And as i noticed, you're in great shape. Congratulations!

Tranxene
Posts: 20
Joined: Sat Mar 02, 2013 12:02 pm

Re: Considering ETS

Post by Tranxene »

I think im going to take the risk soon. Ive talked to people on other forums (not HH related forums) and they say ETS was the best decision of their lives. Obviously you wont get as many people speaking up about it who have had success. They are happy with their lives now, no need to continue to frequent these forums. Even the admin of this site had success for palmar HH.

I think given the reviews of this doctor and the 0$ price tag, I have to do this. I dont want to miss out on a normal life. There was even an article made about his ETS surgery and how its helped people.

http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story ... -sweating/


I need opinions given the information. Im still very afraid of some severe compensatory sweating that id rather die than live with.

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