Hyperhidrosis Forum

[cgilbert]

Hi,
I had ETS surgery (cutting of T2) about 10 years ago for facial HH. The surgery worked very well and I had virtually no immediate complications from the surgery (infection, nerve damage, etc). I now experience severe CS on my trunk (worse on my back) that is pretty debilitating. At this point I'm considering reversal surgery (and am very open to any insight).

I had the surgery done in San Francisco, CA by a now-retired thoracic surgeon (I live in the Portland, OR area). He did mention CS as a possible side effect but didn't present it as a huge risk. To be fair, I was so desperate that I probably wouldn't have listened anyway. That's why it is incumbent on doctors to save us from ourselves. Any surgeon that performs invasive, irreversible surgery to treat conditions where patients are despondent and vulnerable should overemphaasize the risks and minimize the possible benefits (under-promise and over-deliver).

The surgery was uneventful and recovery was quick and I had no immediate complications. In terms of efficacy, the surgery was tremendously successful. My facial HH was immediately and completely resolved, as was my hand-sweating (which wasn't a huge problem, but they are 100% dry now). I still experience gustatory sweating occasionally with very rich or spicy foods but it's not a problem at all. I also still experience blushing but I believe it may be better than it was.

That's the good part. Like many others, I now have severe CS on my trunk (worse on my back). I don't have any of the other dry scalp or pain syndromes that others have though, so maybe I'm one of the lucky ones.

Interestingly, having no moisture on your hands does cause some problems. It's hard to count out money (seriously) or pick things up and it's almost impossible to deal cards (and I used to be a BJ dealer in Las Vegas in college!). It's also hard to play basketball as you really need a little moisture on your hands to properly grip and put spin on the ball.

I've tried hyoscyamine and Robinul and find that Robinul seems to work better but really only reduces the CS about 20-30% most of the time. Often, it doesn't matter what I take.

I am now considering reversal surgery because I'm recently single and know I would be tremendously more confident if I wasn't worried about this. I would consider learning to hypnotize women to become intensely turned on by profuse sweating but that sounds like a lot of work.

I've spoken with Dr. Reisfeld in LA and he seems like a pretty solid guy (although I've only spoken with him once over the phone) but I know there's just not much data at this point. What I want to avoid is being that same desperate person that led to this in the first place but in some ways it is unavoidable. You start to feel that anything is better than your current situation (when obviously that isn't true).

Recent data is scarce, partially because the surgeons are worried about being sued or violating HIPPAA privacy laws and probably because the procedure is still evolving. It's also difficult to find many reversal stories (I've found a few but I want to see tons of them) and the surgeons are either unable (again, HIPPAA) or unwilling to give patient testimonials for the most part. So I would really appreciate anyone with information on either specific surgeons or methods of ETS reversals.

Good luck everyone.