Laser Treatment of Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis or excessive sweating is debilitating for many patients. The sweating stains clothes and can be an embarrassment at work and with friends. Some people need to change their clothes several times each day. In the past, Botox has been used to inject the sweat glands and to prevent sweating. Treatment with Botox costs about $1000 and only lasts six months to a year.

Recently, laser sweat ablation has been found to be very effective and long lasting. The procedure can be easily done under local anesthesia in the office. The process involves making a 3mm incision; then a laser or a Vaser is passed directly underneath the skin to destroy the sweat glands. The laser uses laser light to destroy the sweat glands; the Vaser uses ultrasound to destroy the sweat glands. Most people return to work the following day. There is some soreness for a few days and the risks are minimal. The process eliminates or significantly reduces the sweating in the armpits in 80% of people.

This picture below is of a man after working in a hot attic for three hours. At work, he used to have to change his shirt three times each day. He had laser treatment of hyperhidrosis on the right, and Vaser treatment of hyperhidrosis on the left. As you can see, the Vaser was more effective in this patient. But the laser also gave a very satisfactory result. The results are permanent.