I'm finally getting ETS for my sweaty hands :)

[tiago1995]

After putting off the surgery for over 4 years from being too scared of its side effects, I finally decided I'm going through with ETS because I can't cope with having sweaty hands 24/7 anymore. It makes day-to-day life so much more difficult, in everything I do from using a simple smartphone, to writing in my textbooks to playing videogames. I can't afford other treatment options such as Botox and Iontophoresis, and antiperspirants clearly don't work as intended so I am pretty sure there is no other way to go at this point.

I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and there are two very experienced surgeons in my area that my medical insurance will cover. Right now I'm sitting on the fence between trusting Dr Eduardo Saito or Dr Fernando David Silva with the procedure. I already have scheduled visits with both of them next week and I'll be discussing with them extensively about different aspects of the surgery such as how many procedures each of them have done in the past and at what level do they perform the sympathectomy (I would prefer to have only T4 cut, but I might accept T3 & T4 if they are able to convince me that it would be better). I'll be choosing the one I feel most comfortable with.

All in all, I'm very happy to have made my decision and I'm looking forward to having a new life free of the clamminess in my palms asap.
I also plan on coming back to this thread to give you new information regarding how everything turns out for me.
Wish me luck!

[admin]

Best wishes and please keep us updated.

If possible, write a detailed post on here in future about the exact technique utilized and ganglion(s) cut or clamped or cauterized.

[tiago1995]

I just came back from my office visit to Dr Fernando, and after a long conversation about T levels and such he has basically handed me the choice of having my operation done on T3 or T4 to treat my palmar hyperhidrosis. He noted that he prefers to do T3 in this case as the level of dryness achieved on the hands through this method is superior to cauterizing only T4, which is mostly used by him to treat axillary hyperhidrosis only. I am now unsure of what I should opt for, seeing as there is currently some literature suggesting T4 should be the preferred method seeing as it produces less compensatory sweating (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar ... 01381#bib7).

I am very unsure of what my decision should be right now. Anyone willing to give me their two cents?
Thanks.

[tiago1995]

It's all set now. I'm having surgery on Thursday w/ Dr Fernando David. T3 will be cut.

[admin]

Best of luck:-)

[tiago1995]

Hey guys. It's only been 3 days since surgery so it's early to say much in respect to ETS but all in all it hasn't been too bad until now. I still have some (manageable) pain at the incision sites close to the chest and it seems like my breathing has finally returned to normal. Yesterday I experienced some mild compensatory sweating in my chest and back but my hands remained dry the whole time. We'll see how that will develop from now.

[tiago1995]

Just wanted to report to you all that everything is ok with me and my health. No more pain or side effects other than CS but the scarring from the surgery did turn out to be quite unfavourable for me, aesthetically speaking. I have relatively big scars (around 4cm each) under each one of my nipples that will not go away. I have already tried laser treatments, steroid injections and whatnot. It does seem that they are here to stay. They are also darker than my skin (sort of red) and swollen in nature.

My palms are still able to sweat in various situations, so, all in all, I wouldn't say the surgery was worth it for me. But at least I didn't have to pay for it.