Management of sweaty palms, armpits and body odor

Laura had always cursed her hands. Although she realized how important they were, they have caused her many problems since she was young. Until she sought the right treatment.

She suffered from excessive sweating from the palm of her hands. When writing, everything was smudged, so she had to use a handkerchief to wipe the paper. Writing thus took longer. She felt her exam results would have been better if she could have written faster. Driving a car had been a problem as the steering wheel used to slip.

Shaking hands with other people was another major problem. People would withdraw their hands immediately after a handshake because her hands were too sweaty. When she went to business meetings, people would think that having a cold and clammy hand meant she was trying to cheat them. Thus they would look at her suspiciously. This distressed her a lot.

She consulted Western doctors in Hong Kong but none could offer a permanent cure. She went to China and tried traditional Chinese medication. This did not work either. She then went to England’s Harley Street Clinic and was consequently referred to psychiatrists. She even tried Canada and the United States, but was told it required major surgery and was not worth it.

The final straw came when she borrowed a journalist friend’s computer and ruined it with her sweat. In a moment of depression, she went to pray for her hands to be cured. Coincidentally, her journalist friend went to do a story on Parkway Health Care in Singapore and saw Dr. Lee’s presentation of the modern way of curing sweaty palms. Upon hearing about this, Laura flew over and scheduled an appointment. She went home a happy woman and offered up her thanks in her prayers.

Jill was always embarrassed about her armpits. They would sweat excessively and stain her clothing, so she always had to wear dark-colored clothes.  They also gave off a bad odor, which embarrassed her. She tried so hard to avoid office parties and gatherings. One day, she came across a newspaper article on how a certain modern treatment could cure excessive armpit sweating. She underwent treatment and is now extremely happy.

John always had a problem with facial sweating. When eating, sweat would wet his clothes and would even drip onto his food. When he gave presentations at business meetings, he would be embarrassed. He found on the Internet a modern treatment offered by Dr. Lee Kheng Hin at Gleneagles Hospital. He underwent the procedure and now no longer sweats profusely from the face.

Jack used to blush at the slightest provocation since he was young. Initially, it did not bother him that much. However as he grew up, it gave him many problems. His face would turn red at parties and girls branded him shy. Blushing while he talked to business associates, he would be embarrassed. Heeding a friend’s referral, he went to Parkway Health Care and underwent a successful treatment. His excessive facial blushing is now a thing of the past.

The main purpose of sweating is to cool the body when it gets too hot. This keeps our internal body temperature constant. Thus our body does not react to the environment like reptiles do — very slow and drowsy when the weather is cold, and very active when the weather is hot.

A part of our peripheral nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, deals with how our internal organs function. After eating, for instance, the food is digested and moves down the intestines until the waste is expelled as feces. You do not have to think about this because it is controlled by the autonomic nervous system.

There are two parts of the automatic nervous system: The parasympathetic and the sympathetic.
The sympathetic nervous system deals with excitement or the so-called “fight or flight” syndrome.

When you see a mad dog coming after you, your heart beats faster because the sympathetic system automatically kicks in to prepare you to either fight the dog or run away. Both options require a lot of physical activity, so the sympathetic nervous system also makes you sweat to cool the body as all the muscles used in physical activity warm the body.

In 93 percent of Chinese and 99 percent of other Asians, the sympathetic systems work well and the person only sweats when necessary. However, many people are born with an overactive sympathetic nervous system that causes inappropriate facial blushing and excessive sweating in the face, armpit, palms or feet.

Sweaty palms are a common condition, especially among Chinese. Research shows about 7 percent of the population suffers from sweaty palms.

Sweaty palms can be treated in many ways. Medication can be applied to the hands. However, they can cause skin irritation in some and do not work in others.

Surgery is the only permanent cure to sweating and blushing. The conventional open surgery is a major procedure requiring many days of hospital stay and time in the intensive care unit. Furthermore, there is severe pain, unsightly long scars and a high risk of complications. Another old method is to cut above the left collarbone and then the right a few months later. This leaves unsightly scars.

Video endoscopic sympathectomy, a new minimally invasive method, makes use of a miniature video camera and requires only a small nick in each armpit. The actual operating time per side is only about 10 to 15 minutes in straightforward cases. However, it may take about an hour to an hour-and-a-half for both sides of the body.

Post-operative pain and scars are minimal and hospitalization is reduced to one day without the need for intensive care. Some can even go home on the same day. Consequently, costs are minimal.
Excessive facial and armpit sweating can also be addressed through video endoscopic sympathectomy.
Local research shows excessive sweating of the feet is treated in 50 percent of patients. The procedure is safe if done by an experienced surgeon.

Video endoscopic sympathectomy technique can be used for facial blushing, offering good results.
Modern technology and technique make a big difference to the lives of people who suffer from sweaty palms, face, armpits, body odor or facial blushing.

Dr. Lee Kheng Hin is a consultant neurosurgeon at Gleneagles Medical Center, Singapore. Articles in this column, which appear every two weeks, are provided by a panel of doctors from www.flyfreeforhealth.com, a leading multimedia medical tourism platform dedicated to providing adopters of healthy lifestyles with travel and lifestyle incentives. Join our free online seminar titled “Gamete Health and Preserving Male Fertility” on March 23, 2010, at 12 noon. Register your email address by SMS to +65 9847 3224 to receive the link invite. Email us at info@flyfreeforhealth.com.