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New cosmetic devices offer efficient, long-lasting and safe treatment for hyperhidrosis, an excessive sweating condition

The problem of effectively treating hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, has received increasing attention over the last two years. As physicians, we knew that it was a problem for our patients, but I don’t think we understood the following:

• First, how big of a problem it was for people who suffered from hyperhidrosis. Statistics show that as many as 20 percent of the population is adversely affected in a way that people would seek medical care.
• Second, how much in demand treatment for excessive sweating would be.

I was recently interviewed by the American Society for Lasers in Medicine & Surgery (ASLMS) on the latest promising treatments for hyperhidrosis. Watch the video the society produced or keep on reading.

Over the past 24 months, a whole slew of devices have started to become available. Originally we had at-home therapies which were combined occasionally with botulinum toxins. While working nicely, patients needed treatments one or two times a year. Nowadays, people tend to look for more permanent treatments of hyperhidrosis. Fortunately, new technologies are available today: We have microwave-based devices, ultrasound-based devices, and laser-based devices. All of these are designed to help the people who truly suffer from hyperhidrosis in a way that’s meaningful, long-lasting and most importantly, extremely safe.  So the world has dramatically changed!

As of now, hyperhidrosis treatments fall into three different buckets.

• At-home treatments: If people are satisfied with them they tend not to seek physician’s care.
• Injections of botulinum toxins such as BOTOX and Dysport:  These toxins have been around for a while and work great. However, sometimes insurance doesn’t cover them and it can get costly.
• Light-based or energy-based treatments: This is the newest category where some of the more permanent results are being seen with efficacy in over 90 percent of patients. With some technologies, efficacy goes as high as 95 to 98 percent, and longevity goes out to 2.5 years. These light and energy-based devices seem to have a leg up on treatments that were previously available, mostly because of their long-term cures, safety and patients’ satisfaction.

A lot of really great things are starting to happen in the field of hyperhidrosis. For example, most of the research so far has been in underarm sweating. But, there are a lot of places on the body where people sweat. People sweat on their hands -that’s a tremendous problem for common social interaction such as a common hand shake.  Sweating on the feet is also a big issue, as is facial sweating. I have a few patients who are lawyers, and when in front of a jury, they don’t want to be seen to be sweating.

At SkinCare Physicians, we believe that with these newer devices, the future is promising for treating sweating on new parts of the body including the hands, the feet and the face. We can start to impact hyperhidrosis in a way that patients would consider to be sweating more like a normal person. That change for them will be a huge relief.

The other thing that’s really neat about treating hyperhidrosis with energy-based devices is the merger between the world of devices, mainly perceived as a cosmetic world, with the general dermatology and medical world. Every so often this perfect storm happens, where companies are coming up with technology that not only fulfill a cosmetic purpose, but also really helps people with their conditions.  I think this is one of those times where innovation and research will help people way beyond the cosmetic world. Companies are starting to understand that the future of energy-based devices may be to further merge with true disease states. If we can do that even better in the future, there’s a lot of promise.

If you are suffering from excessive sweating and want to learn more, visit our website or consult with one of the hyperhidrosis expert dermatologists at SkinCare Physicians in Boston.

Video production courtesy of ASLMS

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One Response to New cosmetic devices offer efficient, long-lasting and safe treatment for hyperhidrosis, an excessive sweating condition

• Christine says:

  July 2, 2013 at 4:07 pm

  Visit the International Hyperhidrosis Society website at http://www.SweatHelp.org for details on hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating) treatments, volunteer opportunities for patients, and subscribe to the free newsletter.

  Reply