Botox for sweating?
Botox for sweating?
Botulinum Toxin is most commonly used to smooth facial wrinkles, although not many people know that it also has FDA approval to be used for #Hyperhidrosis too.
Hyperhidrosis is a common condition in which a person sweats excessively. It’s been estimated to affect between one and three in every 100 people which means there are likely to be hundreds of thousands of people living with it in the UK.
Hyperhidrosis can develop at any age, although primary hyperhidrosis typically starts during childhood or soon after puberty.
The sweating may affect the whole of the body, or it may be localised to affect certain areas such as the armpits, palms of the hands, soles of the feet and the groin for example.
People who suffer from excessive sweating can find the condition embarrassing and may avoid situations or clothing choices in order to conceal the problem which can have an impact on their quality of life.
How does Botox work?
The neurotoxin Botox stops nerves from firing by blocking the uptake of acetylcholine, one of the neurotransmitters that tells muscles to contract. When injected in the face, it essentially freezes the nearby muscles, which smooths wrinkles and prevents expression lines that could cause more wrinkles to appear. The mechanism works in the same way used to stop the production of sweat, but it acts on glands instead of muscles. Botox intercepts the message telling the glands to secrete sweat, so they don’t.
Who can treat Hyperhidrosis?
Botox is a prescription-only medicines (POM) in the UK, which means it can only be prescribed and given to a patient by a qualified prescriber and only medical professionals can qualify as prescribers.
