Hyperhidrosis Forum

Hello everyone! My name's Amy. I'm 25 and have been dealing with hyperhidrosis since I hit puberty at 11.

In high school, friends would tease and call me "swamp thing" because of my sweaty hands. The worst has always been my underarms - it can be -20C, wearing a tank top (or naked), and still have sweat dripping from my underarms. Stains are typically between 15 and 30 cm in diameter (depending on outside conditions, relaxation level, clothing type, etc.).

Most of the time, I try to wear either black shirts or black hoodies/sweaters/cardigans to wear over colourful clothing.

I've tried typical antiperspirants (useless!), and recently Drysol & Perspirex (with only slight reduction), and have decided to move forward with sympathectomy. I have no desire to even try Botox, because it's only covered partially by my insurance, and the treatments are ongoing (varying from 7-12 months' effectiveness).

I'm scheduled for the surgery on Feb. 22 with Dr. K. Irshad in Ontario, Canada. Surgical block fee is $75, the rest is covered by OHIP.
I'm nervous, but the possibility of 100% reduction in hand sweating and 98% underarm sweating is extremely appealing!

Hi Amy,

Exciting times for you in anticipation of impending dryness! Just make sure you get some references of past patients that you can talk to. Your surgeon was not well known when I made my ranking list in 2006:

http://www.no-ets.com/surgeons.html

I would seriously recommend getting a hold of the retired Canadian Dr. Ernie Spratt via e-mail. I would rather not search my inbox for it, but if you can't find it online, let me know. Ask him for his opinion of Dr. Irshad. Dr. Spratt e-mailed me 4-5 times a few years ago, and I found him to be a wonderful person. He used to be Canada's most experienced ETS surgeon.

It is too bad that armpit sweating is not your only concern. Otherwise there are much safer surgeries than ETS. See the surgeries part of the below page (and if you want to get rid of armpit sweating first and postpone ETS, I would highly recommend contacting Dr. Whiteley in the UK first):

http://www.no-ets.com/armpit-sweating.html

Also, make sure you know which ganglions are being cauterized or clamped for both hand and armpit sweating reduction. Ideally, you would want just one gone, but in your case, you might be getting both T-3 and T-4 destroyed. You definitely do not want to touch T-2, and that is why an en experienced surgeon is important. Some new surgeons can mistakenly cut T-2, especially since your right and left sides are not symmetrical. I recommend you read the main site in its entirety if you haven't already.

Best wishes, and keep us posted of your results over the next year or two.

Thanks for the reply!
(FYI, the surgery form indicated T4/T5 ganglions)

I've decided to postpone/cancel my surgical appointment in lieu of reading so many 'regret' posts, and to keep using Perspirex in the meantime and/or Drysol in the future to see if results differ.

My biggest concerns cannot be assuaged, and being a control freak, I can't accept the risks/unknown variables. I may review the procedure at a later time, but the benefits do not seem to outweigh the potential side-effects.

This forum has been exceedingly helpful in re-assessing my decision, so thanks!