Hyperhidrosis: Is There Enough Research and Treatment?

Brittany Estrin: Throughout my life, no one has really known about hyperhidrosis. I am the only one in my family, that I know of, who has it. And also, none of my friends ever mentioned having it either. So, I didn’t really understand what was going on, and no one around me really understood. They didn’t know about the condition itself. I didn’t really know any information. I never saw any commercials or anything like you normally see within the pharmaceutical world and medical fields and everything. I never saw any informational commercials. So, I didn’t really have any idea what was going on.

After I was diagnosed with hyperhidrosis and I knew the name, I started getting around on Google. I googled the word “hyperhidrosis,” and it popped up with a definition. And then I started seeing different treatment options below that. So, I was playing around on the Internet, and I was trying to find different things I could do. I tried every deodorant I could get over the counter, and now I’m trying different treatment options through the dermatologist. But it was amazing seeing the name of hyperhidrosis because I was like, “That’s it—that’s the problem.” And there are options to actually fix it. So, it was really awesome seeing the actual word and knowing what it meant. It was really relieving.

My hopes for the future with having hyperhidrosis, I want to try Botox if I can get it approved through my insurance. I’ve heard really good things—that it helps a lot and it lasts a long time, depending on your body chemistry. And then I’ve also heard of a couple of different, not surgeries but more intense treatments that you can do. I forget the name of it, but they have another treatment that is an actual machine that you do to your underarms, and it’s supposed to kill the sweat glands. So, I would really like to look into that, but I’ve heard it’s really, really expensive. It would be nice to see other more intense treatment options be covered by insurance. That would be really amazing.

If a nonintensive treatment was to come out, just something very basic, very on-the-go, I would be more than willing to try that. I think that would be amazing. I think that it would help make people with hyperhidrosis more comfortable. Just being in a situation if you feel like your hands are starting to sweat or you’re starting to get uncomfortable, I think that something like that would be amazing, just something very easy to do. I think that would be awesome.