Excessive sweating is a problem for many patients. This condition affects the armpits, soles and palms. In particular, excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) of the palms can be very debilitating. Consider if you always had very sweaty palms – how many times a day would that affect you in private or social situations. Turning the knob on a door while your hand continues to slip. Holding hands with your partner. Shaking hands at the start of a business meeting. There are several options for treatment, with their various pros and cons.
Treatment methods for sweaty palms
With sweaty palms, much like excessive sweating to the armpits, the sweat glands are over-stimulated. Any technique to block this stimulation is effective. Some more effective than others over longer periods of time. For a more permanent solution, a patient can undergo a video assisted thoracoscopic sympathectomy. That’s a fancy way of saying your surgeon will place a camera and scope into your chest and cut the nerve inside your chest responsible for excessive sweating to the palms!
Sure that sounds crazy but it is effective and is a permanent solution. For those faint of heart and not willing to “go under the knife,” there’s a more temporary solution. Injection of BOTOX® or XEOMIN® into the palms can stop sweating for 3-12 months, depending on the patient. Just as BOTOX® and XEOMIN® block certain receptors in the muscles to cause relaxation and remove wrinkles in the face, these same neuromodulators can block the same receptors on sweat glands to stop the production of sweat.
Neuromodulators like BOTOX® and XEOMIN® block muscles wherever muscles exist. So it’s certainly possible for injections to the palms to affect hand muscles. Luckily, hand muscles are deeper within the hand and the sweat glands are closer to the skin. As long as the injections are superficial, as seen in the video below, the deeper hand muscles will continue to function normally.
Video of treatment for sweaty palms with BOTOX® or XEOMIN®
Using BOTOX® or XEOMIN® for excessive sweating to the armpits is also very effective. It’s easier to see the pores in the armpits so treatment can be more specific to certain areas rather than injections throughout the entire armpit. To check pricing on this procedure from a doctor near you, click here.
