Hyperhidrosis
Suffer from excessive sweating? Discover how botulinum toxin can be used to treat hyperhidrosis.
Excessive Sweating
Sweating helps your body control its temperature during exercise and when the environment around you gets hotter. It’s your body’s natural response to an increase in temperature or when you feel anxious. Sweating is regulated by your sympathetic nervous system. In about 1% of the population, this nervous system works at a higher rate, causing sweating to occur at embarrassing times, and in excessive quantities – more than is required to lower your body temperature.
Hyperhidrosis, which literally means “excessive sweating”, can occur in any or multiple areas of your body. It also impacts both sexes equally, and all races.
How can excessive sweating be treated?
Botulinum toxin is a naturally occurring protein produced by the bacterium, Clostridium Botulinum. The toxin blocks the transition of chemical messages sent from the nerve to cause the muscle to contract.
Botulinum toxin is injected into the affected area, and works by blocking the nerves that supply the sweat glands, stopping them from producing sweat.
Botulinum toxin injections work well as a safe and effective treatment for hyperhidrosis, with minimal side effects, but top-up treatments are usually required after about six or seven months.
Before any treatment, our experienced and trained prescribers will conduct a full face-to-face assessment and consultation to check your suitability and discuss your various options and risks.
Get in touch with the Dental Health Centre today to see if we can help you with excessive sweating.
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Frequently Asked Questions
You should experience reduced sweating in the affected area within 48 hours. The full impact of the treatment can take up to 10 days.
Treatment can last up to 7 months, after which top-up injections may be required or desired.
You will be advised to keep the treated muscles active for several hours. Vigorous exercise and environments with extreme temperatures should be avoided for at least 4-6 hours.
Common body areas include:
- Under arms / armpits
- Hands
- Feet
- Chest
- Groin
- Facial areas
A very fine needle is used and generally this treatment is not painful and can be well tolerated with no anaesthetic. Ice may be helpful in numbing the skin for nervous patients as well as reducing the risk of a bruise.