What Is Severe Underarm Sweating?
Severe underarm sweating is a medical condition known as severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis that involves overactive sweat glands. Sweat is your body’s temperature regulator. In severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis, sweating significantly exceeds the body’s normal requirements for cooling.
While people with severe underarm sweating may choose many different antiperspirants, those products may fail to stop the sweating.
If you frequently change your shirt, constantly worried someone will see your underarm sweat stains, carry extra antiperspirants, powders or towels you may suffer from this treatable condition.
How Can Severe Underarm Sweating Be Treated?
When antiperspirants can’t control symptoms of your severe underarm sweating, BOTOX® may be able to help. BOTOX® (onabotulinumtoxinA) was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) over 20 years ago, and has been used to successfully treat a variety of medical conditions.
In 2004 the FDA approved this same formulation with dosing specific to treat the symptoms of severe underarm sweating when topical medicines do not work well enough.
How Does BOTOX® Treatment Work?
BOTOX® temporarily blocks the chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate the sweat glands. When the sweat glands don’t receive chemical signals, the severe sweating stops.
What Is A BOTOX® Treatment Like?
Dr. Lum will assess the specific areas of excessive underarm sweating that affect you. He may anesthetize these areas with a topical anesthetic cream. After cleaning the skin, a small amount of BOTOX® solution is injected into the affected underarm area through a very fine needle. Each affected underarm will receive a series of superficial skin injections, similar to the TB skin tests.
You should notice a significant reduction in underarm sweating within 4 weeks of your first treatment.
How Long Does A BOTOX® Treatment Last?
A BOTOX® treatment lasts up to 201 days or 6 months¹*
BOTOX® injections are not a cure for severe underarm sweating, and your symptoms will gradually return. That’s how you will know it may be time for another treatment.
Where Does The Sweat Go?
Your sweat doesn’t go anywhere or get backed up, because the sweat is not produced in the areas treated with BOTOX®. Remember, the rest of your body is free to produce moisture naturally.
¹BOTOX® Prescribing Information, August 2009
*In a clinical study, the median duration of response in BOTOX® patients was 201 days or 6.7 months.
