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Procedure May Offer Relief From Excessive Sweating

Center Treats Hyperhidrosis Through Liposuction

POSTED: 2:43 pm EST December 1, 2006
UPDATED: 6:22 pm EST December 1, 2006

A new procedure is offering relief for people who suffer from excessive sweating of the palms, feet and underarms.

NewsCenter 5's Heather Unruh reported Friday that it's a rare condition known as hyperhidrosis.

"It made me really self-conscious about it, like you know, like, how much you're sweating and you know, like, other people can tell," Theresa Glover said.

Glover said that not even prescription-strength deodorants helped control her sweating problem.

"I always sweat through all my clothes, and so I found out I can actually change that, and I really wanted to do it," Glover said.

She turned to Boston University's Center for Cosmetic and Laser Surgery and their cutting edge technology in treating hyperhidrosis through liposuction.

"It's a one-time procedure, and since it removes where the sweat's being produced, it's permanent and those patients sweat much, much less afterward," Boston University's Center for Cosmetic and Laser Surgery's Dr. Neils Krejci-Papa said.

The minimally invasive procedure is done under local anesthesia. It's for anyone who suffers from underarm sweating. If a patient suffers from excessive sweating somewhere else, other treatments are available, including surgically clipping the nerves or Botox, which blocks the nerves that trigger sweat glands.

"The problem with Botox is you have to redo it every six months. So under the arm and the armpit, Botox works, too, but in addition to that you now have a new technique -- a liposuction removal of the sweat glands," Krejci-Papa said.

Krejci-Papa said that there are risks like in any other surgery, but since this does not require general anesthesia and uses smaller instruments, the risks are reduced.

"It's very much safer and everything you read about the life-threatening complications of liposuction, that's all the old liposuction, that we here are not doing and most dermatologic surgeons don't do it," Krejci-Papa said.

"It's not going to be, like, totally different but sometimes those little changes make a big difference in your daily life," Glover said.

The procedure is not covered by insurance. It costs about $3,500.

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