Excessive underarm sweating can happen at the most inopportune times. Whether you’re being interviewed by a prospective employer or trying to impress a date, the sight of soaked armpits usually doesn’t fit with the good impression you’re trying to make.
An estimated 5 percent of the world’s population struggles with a condition known as axillary hyperhidrosis, the clinical term for uncontrollable underarm sweating. Excessive perspiration is typically more common among people who have anxiety disorders and can be triggered by high pressure situations.
Millions of sufferers are frustrated and embarrassed by their situation, but what can be done when all else has failed? Is there a treatment for excessive underarm sweating?
The answer, according to physician Mitchell Chasin of Bridgewater, New Jersey, is yes. He recently appeared on Good Morning America to discuss an innovative new tool called Axilase, a type of laser therapy that reduces the number of sweat glands found in the armpits. The safe, minimally invasive procedure could help bring unmanageable perspiration under control.
“It’s performed in an office setting and takes about an hour to an hour and a half to perform,” Chasin told the news source. “Patients are treated with local anesthetic and leave the office feeling perfectly well.”
Axilase uses FDA-approved lasers to directly target the sweat glands, which are gently suctioned out of the skin. Specialists begin by making small incisions in the armpit, which is filled with a numbing fluid before the lasers are administered.
Those who undergo the procedure can go directly home for a good night’s sleep, and often spend the next day recovering. After that, most patients are ready to get on with their everyday lives.
ABC News reports that Kris Marra, who has been struggling with axillary hyperhidrosis for many years, recently decided to try the Axilase procedure for herself.
“The only time I’m not sweating is when I’m sleeping,” she admitted, quoted by the news source. “I’m more excited than nervous though. I just can’t wait to wear a t-shirt or just not have to feel like I have to cover up all the time.”
Most people who have undergone Axilase treatment give their pain a rating of one or two on a pain scale of one to ten. The relative painlessness, effectiveness and quick recovery time certainly recommend Axilase as an intriguing treatment for excessive underarm sweating.
