November 22, 2010
Botox Used To Treat Excessive Sweating
Hyperhidrosis is a medical term for excessive sweating. Sufferers are often embarrassed by the underarm stains and sweaty palms. Another area affected is the scalp. As one woma
n shared today on The Doctors, dealing with the sweat can be very difficult, and was it was especially tough on her wedding day. She learns about an unusual solution to her sweaty troubles, Botox.
Botox is well known as a treatment for wrinkles, but many aren’t aware of the myriad of other uses for the neurotoxin. It’s FDA approved to treat migraines and hyperhidrosis of the underarms. While scalp sweating isn’t on that list, some well-trained doctors use it off-label for that purpose. Dr. Alexander Rivkin, who offers Botox treatment in Los Angeles as well as many other treatments ranging from cosmetic surgery to non-surgical nose jobs, discusses this treatment today with Dr. Andrew Ordon on The Doctors and demonstrates how the injections are performed.
Board Certified dermatologist Dr. Heidi Waldorf of Waldorf Dermatology says her patients find the treatments very helpful. “Particularly for my male patients, using a neurotoxin, usually Botox, for hyperhidrosis of the face, neck and chest is a tremendous boon to them,” she says. “They give presentations or they might be musicians, and the sweating makes them either look nervous or unprofessional or perhaps just gets in their way if it gets in their eyes.”
The treatment involves injections in the specific areas where the sweating occurs. The toxin blocks signals from the brain to keep them from reaching and triggering the sweat glands. “We can treat around the hair line, the side burns, the lower neck, and under the tie area without a problem of changing their movement. We can give anywhere from three to nine months of sweat free life.”
It’s important to find a physician familiar with using neurotoxin for this treatment rather than one who’s only used it for cosmetic treatments. Ask your dermatologist or aesthetic physician about Botox to ease your excessive sweating problem.
