Sweat gland removal for Hyperhidrosis

Overview
During sweat gland excision surgery, sweat glands under the arms are surgically removed and/or damaged. Techniques for sweat gland excision include liposuction, curettage, lasers, and excision.

Sweat gland removal may be considered in severe cases of excessive underarm sweating when other treatments have proven ineffective.

What does it involve?
The goal of sweat gland removal is to decrease underarm sweating by removing or destroying sweat glands under the arms.

Choose a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon who is trained and experienced in sweat gland removal.

Sweat gland removal is outpatient surgery is performed in an office setting under local anesthetic.

Many different surgical techniques may be used to surgically remove sweat glands. Most techniques begin with small incisions into the skin under the arm to allow access to the deeper layer of the dermis. Curettage means to scrape sweat glands, removing and damaging as many as possible. Liposuction may be utilized to suck out sweat glands. Different combinations of these techniques are also possible. For instance, a surgeon may use liposuction and curettage, or lasers and liposuction. Discuss specific techniques with your surgeon. Excision, which refers to cutting out sweat glands, is rarely performed now due to heavy scarring that can impede normal movement.

Since sweat glands are so tiny as to be invisible, surgeons must use guesswork to estimate how thoroughly they are destroying the tissue.

Sweat gland removal is usually permanent.

Recovery
After the procedure, you may want to take a day or two to recover. You may feel sore under the arms for a week or so. You may need to wear a special compression garment for a short time after sweat gland removal surgery.

Results
One review of clinical studies on the [lipo]suction-curettage technique found that the method was safe, highly successful, and caused few side effects. In other studies, sweating was decreased by 63 percent with suction-curettage and by 44 to 49 percent with liposuction alone. A small study of curettage alone found a good response in 90 percent of participants.

Constraints
Sweat gland removal surgery may not decrease sweating as much as was hoped.

Any surgery carries risks including blood clots, blood loss, infection, breathing problems, reactions to medication, and heart attack or stroke during the surgery. Sweat gland removal surgery may cause scarring, loss of sensation, and reduction in hair under the arm.

Sweat gland removal surgery may cause temporary pain and swelling in the underarm.

Health insurance is unlikely to cover sweat gland removal surgery for hyperhidrosis.

For more details about this treatment, visit:

Underarm Surgeries – International Hyperhidrosis Society
https://www.sweathelp.org/hyperhidrosis-treatme...

Surgical treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis by suction-curettage of sweat glands – Anais Brasileiros De Dermatologia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC42...