Is Botox Okay for Excessive Sweating and For You?

If your extra-strength anti-perspirant for excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis isn’t quite doing the trick in keeping you cool and dry this summer and past summers, Botox, while extreme and expensive, could be the answer.

Botox or Botulinum toxin, is a neurotoxin protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, yeah, we know, sounds totally nasty, kind of makes you sweat just thinking about it. By the way, it is also one of the most lethal and poisonous materials that exists. Despite of the previous, plastic surgeons and other specialists use it in tiny doses to stop muscle spasms and most commonly to smooth out aging by paralyzing the muscles on faces. The end result of too much botox is a mask-like plastic face where the smiles of users can become stiff and unnatural, as well as unattractive. Proof of this plastic face phenomenon exists with Madonna. View her latest interviews and you’ll see a face that’s a little less human as well as humane.

Botox is used to treat many things, here’s a short list:

disorders that cause repeated muscle twitching.
exaggerated blinking
crossed eyes
migraine headaches
certain pain disorders

In the last five years or so, excessive sweating, otherwise known as hyperhidrosis, has been added to the list of Botox treatable conditions. While people sweat and perspire to cool themselves when it is hot outside or too calm the body during certain emotional states, such as nervousness, people with excessive sweating and hyperhidrosis experience extreme perspiration separate from these factors. This phantom sweating is physically and socially uncomfortable as it becomes a force unto itself that is out of the control of the person and often times shows up randomly during their lives.

Hyperhidrosis occurs in about 3 percent of the world’s population. Both men and women are affected by hyperhidrosis and most often under the arms and on the palms and feet.

Extra-strength hyperhidrosis antiperspirants and pills are usually the remedy of choice. They treat excessive sweating by temporarily reducing sweat production at the level of the sweat glands. These antiperspirants for excessive sweating can have side effects such as a dry mouth, eyes, skin-irritation and itching. There’s even a surgery called sympathectomy that can prevent sweating by severing the nerves that signal the sweat glands. This surgery however, has many risks and side effects and should only be considered in the most extreme of the extreme excessive sweating situations.

Narly Botox fights hyperhidrosis and excessive sweating by blocking a neurotransmitter that stimulates and activates the sweat glands, essentially paralyzing and freezing them for a period of up to eight months. The treatment, which the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved in 2004, involves several injections in the armpit. The procedure can be painful and expensive and is not recommended for the faint of heart.

Botox injections for hyperhidrosis is often a popular treatment for brides and grooms, as well as before prom or other formal events. It is also for people who experience excessive sweating which can be a source of embarrassment and can also ruin expensive clothing. People who suffer from hyperhidrosis often wear black or dark clothing to hide the possible sweat stains that may appear randomly and without warning.

So what do you do as a teenager with excessive sweating? Try out the antiperspirants that are specifically made for hyperhidrosis and excessive sweating first. Many are over the counter or can be had online, but most importantly, stay healthy and informed, as hyperhidrosis is a complicated health condition and should be dealt with on a case by case level.

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