Sweat as a chicken has a solution

La pesadilla tiene nombre: hiperhidrosis. Las manos húmedas y los ronchones en las axilas tienen los días contados gracias al botox, láser o las microondas

Do not shake hands when greeting, always dress in black and with comfortable clothes or never lift your arms.All this for shame and not by choice.This is how many of the people suffering from hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating, among which is Roberto.Professor and father of a daughter, he confesses that he has not led an easy life because of his problem.His excessive sweat in his hands made him retrace, shy away physical and even personal contact to avoid teasing and insecurities.Roberto is not alone.According to the International Hyperhidrosis Society at least 220 million people suffer from it, 3% of the world's population.

To what can this be an impediment to a normal daily life?There are different degrees of this disease, from one to five (slightest to more serious) and, depending on the area of the affected body, it can alter the patient in different aspects of their day to day.According to a study by the Liberty Clinic, 58% of women think that sweating excessively in public is worse than suffering obesity and 47% of them would prefer to have acne.

"We define the problem as an increase in sweating that bothers people in their daily work, but it is not the same if you are a mason, what a watchmaker or flutist," says the dermatologist and titular professor Ramón Grimalt: "It is not our work to say ifA person is sick or not, but if someone bothers this problem, try to help him according to his circumstances ".It does not have a defined origin in most cases, but it has to do with a nervous system dysfunction."It is not caused by nerves or anxiety, but they get worse".

There is no sexual difference

Although sweating is a natural body process, the problem comes when it is annoying and visible.The most common areas that are usually concentrated are armpits, palms of the hands, soles of the feet, facial zone or the scalp.A disorder that suffer equally and them although, according to Dr. Grimalt, "I try more women than men, because they usually bother them more.I think it is more a problem of social concern than to reflect reality ".

It can arise at any time in life, but it has two age peaks: at birth or in adolescence.In these cases it usually has a very close relationship with genetics, since in 40% of cases there are family history."The other hyperhidrosis are what we know as secondary and can appear throughout life, for example, in menopause or with some disease such as hyperthyroidism," confirms Dr. Grimalt to Zen.

Sweat is not smell bad

On many occasions excessive sweating is related to bad smell and are two situations that do not have a direct relationship."The annoying smell, which we call bromhydrosis, is actually due to the bacterial colonization of sweat once it has already come out of the body".Secretion when it comes out of the body does not smell, but it is contact with skin germs that gives it that smell.

Laser, Botox or Surgery

What to do to fight it?In addition to taking care and accentuating hygiene, the main remedy for this problem are topical treatments, mainly composed of aluminum chloride that has an antitranspirant function.If the patient does not have enough with this, he would go to oral medications, among which are beta blockers or inhibitors.

There is a plan B in the event that drugs are not enough: Botox.Botulinum protein is not only an ally against old age, but also used as a remedy against hyperhidrosis.It is injected mostly in the case of armpits, but it serves in other parts of the body even in the head.Although it is one of the most used techniques it has no lasting effect, its effectiveness disappears at seven or nine months."It is not painful and it is effective".

Among the wide range of options is iToforesis, an easy -to -use technique thanks to an apparatus that the patient is bought and used at home.The mechanism emits small electric shocks through water that "deactivate the sweat gland" in such a way that it prevents it from perspiring in that area.Another more recent technique is laser.In Spain the Miradry site is used that works through microwave and whose function is to eliminate the armpit glands.

Symphactomy, "The King of Treatments"

If this is not useful for the patient, one more step would be surgical techniques.One of them is the partial extraction of axillary glands.It consists of making two small holes in the armpits through which the sweat glands are extracted, "it is very effective if the doctor has experience and ability, since it is done blind.It is difficult to remove the glands without seeing them, because you do not open the armpit ".

Another technique that requires a scalpel and is currently "the king of treatments" is thoracic sympathectomy.The surgeon Álvarez Kindelán states that its effectiveness is greater in the case of hands and armpits, but "the effect on excessive feet in the feet is limited and only 20% of patients note improvement of these symptoms," says Álvarez Kindelán.

It is an operation that is also carried out through the armpit, but the surgeon can see what happens on video."On this occasion what is done is to eliminate the sympathetic nerve", in charge of regulating body sweating.It has a high efficacy, but there is a danger that the patient suffers secondary or compensatory hyperhidrosis after passing through the operating room.

Compensatory sweating

This type of hyperhidrosis arises in some people who, after the intervention, stop sweating through the area in question and its perspiration increases in another part of the body, as a river that seeks a new channel.Many times it does not represent a problem."A violinist girl sweated relatively little by her hands, she operated and was delighted but had to dress in a special way for concerts because she always went out with the dripping shirt," says Dr. Grimalt.However, on other occasions the remedy can be worse than the disease.

Patients with compensatory sweat usually increase their perspiration in the back and belly area."I remember the case of another patient, a model, who sweated in his hands and that bothered him for interviews.The operation caused him to leave the job.For his trade it was better to sweat by the hands than to wet the clothes ".Therefore, experts consulted by Zen recommend assessing risks and alternatives before passing through the operating room.There are options for all tastes, so you no longer have to suffer more Camacho's nightmare in the 2002 World Cup.