Treat hyperhidrosis with Botox

If you’ve tried things like antiperspirants, anticholinergic solutions, or iontophoresis, and you are still sweating excessively, you may be looking into the next option.

The next option to treat hyperhidrosis is Botox. Yep, it’s not just to fill in wrinkles!

What is Botox?

Botox can be injected into your armpits, hands, feet, etc. It blocks the glands responsible for the sweating.

Pros:

• Works for a few places: Botox can be injected in lots of places: hands, feet, or armpits.

Cons:

• Pain: I didn’t do it myself, but my doctor had told me it was rather painful. People who’ve tried tried it and wrote reviews online say it’s painful.
• Timing: The effects wear off after 6 months, so you need to repeat the injections every 6 months… (According to this International Hyperhidrosis Society article)
• Price: It depends on which country you live in, what type of insurance you have, etc. but this is usually very expensive. About $1,000 per session in the US, according to this ThompsonTee article. You can compare the reviews and prices of several dermatologists in your town who offer that service to get an idea.  Also contact your insurance company to figure whether or not they cover that procedure, or even part of it. But since you need to renew the injections every 6 months, you need to be prepared for a high annual cost.

Why I decide not to try Botox and how much is Botox treatment?

The fact that the procedure is painful, expensive, and needs to be repeated every 6 months did discourage me from going that route.

That’s about $3,000 a year for the rest of your life…

I must admit though that it’s not such a high price to pay when sweaty hands, feet, etc. make your life miserable…

But I wanted to be done once and for all.

Thus, I spoke to my dermatologist who suggested I meet a surgeon specializing in ETS surgery (Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy). That’s how I ended up skipping trying botox and getting right into the surgery instead.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. I’m writing based on my own personal experience, and I added in some more details based off research. I’m simply giving you an overview of the options available to you to deal with hyperhidrosis, so you can have an understanding of what’s available when you talk to your doctor. Contrary to most things you will find online, this overview is not written from a medical or objective point of view, but written from the individual, unique, point of view of someone who went through most of the options. This is based on what I liked/didn’t like when I was trying each option.