Hi
Just wanted to post my views re ETS.
I am 23 years old, and had this operation done in 1999 (aged 15) and 2000 (aged 17) for palm Hyperhidrosis, then had Lumbar Sympathectomy in 2001 (aged 18) for foot Hyperhidrosis.
7 years on from the first operation, I would say that the two ETS surgeries have improved my palmer HH by around 60% (the reason I had it done twice was because my hands were still really bad after the first ETS, so I decided to have it re-done). The Lumbar Sympathectomy improved my foot HH by around 60% too.
However, for the last four years I have suffered extremely severe compensatory sweating (CS), which I now have on my back, stomach, chest, legs and buttocks, whilst still sweating a bit on my hands and feet. I have tried all kinds of treatment for this, including acupuncture, herbs, homeopathy, prescription drugs, prescription-strength anti-prespirants etc, but yet still suffer with this.
My point here is that for anyone considering ETS, please, please be 100% sure in your decision, and be aware of the fact that the operations are not always a miracle cure. For some people (like myself) the side-effects can be just as bad as the original symptoms, so you really have got to be careful.
Anyway, just thought I'd post this in the hope that it will provide a little information and advice for someone. I struggle big-style with CS, but just about cope by using a good anti-perspirant and wearing t-shirts under normal shirts, in order to soak up any CS.
Hope this is of some use, and if anyone has any questions or needs any advice or information at all, pelase don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks.
Iain (IJR)
My ETS and Lumbar Sympathectomy - Pro's and Con's
Re: My ETS and Lumbar Sympathectomy - Pro's and Con's
Hey, my name is Kate and I thought your story went along with mine quite well. My whole life I have dealt with sweaty hands and sweaty feet. Not until age 8-9 is when I really discovered that it was an actual problem. I read another story in another blog similar to mine about being afraid to go to social settings like church and just to hang out with friends. I ended up getting the ETS surgery when I was 13 years old and actually had to get the surgery done a second time because it only worked for one hand. For the most part I am happy with the results. My hands never sweat which is great, but I do suffer from compensatory sweating mostly on my entire back. I am a college student and it really only affects me for football tailgates since it is so hot and when I work out, but I never ever sweat on my face and hardly my underarms which is good. The only downside I noticed with my surgery is how it made my feet sweat more than it had before I got my surgery. I try to buy shoes that will cover it up, I have tried drionic which didn't help enough, and I bought one of those electric current machines but it tends to make my feet really really cold and damp but has limited my sweating some. As I am getting older though it is starting to affect me more. This past summer I finally talked about it to my Mom and we talked about getting the lumbar surgery done, but after researching more about it it started to scare both of us. Since there is only one doctor in the whole united states (Dr. Reisfield) who performs this surgery didn't quite make us feel good about it. Both me and my mom talked to him personally over the phone and my main concern about the surgery was getting compensatory sweating worse, but he said over and over again that it will not make it worse because of the location where he is clipping the nerve at. Did your compensatory sweating worsen after your lumbar surgery? Did you experience any other problems after the surgery? Hope to hear from you soon...
Re: My ETS and Lumbar Sympathectomy - Pro's and Con's
Very interesting story. Did you go to experienced surgeons, or did you go to local ones in which you were their first patient? Sounds kind of weird how your ETS only cured "60%" of your hyperhidrosis, and how the lumbar sympatectomy only cured "60%" for the feet.
If you didn't already know, there's a new brand of shirts created by a guy who undergone ETS years ago called Sutran. They're located in Spain. Their shirts prevent sweat from from seeping through to form stains. They're very expensive though, mainly because of the shipping cost. Don't think they're undershirts. I ordered one myself thinking it was an undershirt and found that it's far too thick to be an undershirt. It does work, however, as there's no sweat stains after a full day of use.
If you didn't already know, there's a new brand of shirts created by a guy who undergone ETS years ago called Sutran. They're located in Spain. Their shirts prevent sweat from from seeping through to form stains. They're very expensive though, mainly because of the shipping cost. Don't think they're undershirts. I ordered one myself thinking it was an undershirt and found that it's far too thick to be an undershirt. It does work, however, as there's no sweat stains after a full day of use.