Removing sweat glands

26 comments

1. Do you have hyperhidrosis.. or you just want to sweat less?

   I don’t know if I would advise removing the sweat glands unless you had a specific, perhaps even medical reason. Especially not in a hot country such as Japan, I’d be constantly afraid of heat strokes.

2. If you google “ワキガ”, you’ll see all kinds of sweat treatment options, both surgical and non. Botox is a much less invasive option, though not permanent.

   > Is it covered by the health insurance?

   I doubt it as I can’t see how it would be “medically necessary”.

3. Have u tried Botox? Works for like 6 months.

4. Be careful, your body sweats for a reason

5. I’ve heard of people doing Botox or something on their armpit so it’s not an uncommon procedure, but apparently you sweat somewhere else like the back of your knees lol

6. Oxybutynin is a medication that can help reduce sweating but you’ll need a prescription for it.

7. your problem is about sweating? or the odor? if is the second is because hormones, the food you eat, bacteria, etc. I do running I sweat but no odor. So about odor as I know you need to see a dermatologist.

8. You sweat for a very good reason

9. I am somewhat sure this is considered cosmetic surgery and probably not covered by health insurance.

   I did laser sweat gland removal a long time ago. I didn’t have a lot of yellow staining issue however, just smell. The goal is to destroy the glands only in the armpit area so you shouldn’t worry that your overall ability to sweat goes down.

   I was warned it could only have a limited effect (frequency and strength of smell can reduce by about 70%.) I would say that was about right, for about 5 years. It was not painful and no side effects. The biggest downside is that after 5 years I think the effect of smell removal slowly waned off. In hindsight I would rather just stick to deodorant.

10. Hello! Person who had this done reporting in.

    I did the non-invasive option called MiraDry in 2021.

    1.) cost: $1,600 USD

    2.) health insurance: not covered for me

    3.) pain: BRUTAL. They use needles to inject a saline layer into your armpits as well as local anesthetic before the procedure. But it’s over quickly.

    4.) did it help: changed my life. I wish I did it sooner.

    5.) stopping sweat: I now sweat a LITTLE, but only if I am incredibly nervous. Even then, it is not enough to even show on a grey shirt.

    6.) stopping smell: I no longer need deodorant.

    The healing process for me was intense and incredibly uncomfortable. It looked like I had been run over by a car. However, would I do it again? Absolutely.

    10/10 recommend.

    edit: wish I could spell words good

11. Health insurance covers treatment for conditions that interfere with your daily life. If you have to throw away shirts because of your armpit sweating, I think you will be cleared for treatment.

    Botox will be covered if the doctor decides your condition is serious enough to be diagnosed as 原発性腋窩多汗症 and require treatment, as will the surgery to remove your glands. Botox is not cheap. It will cost upward 30,000 yen even with insurance (prices vary depending on the manufacture of the Botox). It will last about 4 months, so one summer. Surgery will cost between 20,000 for both armpits. But it will require several visits and there will be scarring. Some clinics offer surgery with laser, but I don’t think it is covered by the NHI. Be prepared to pay 150,000 yen and up. There will be no downtime and no scarring with laser.

    There is a new anticholinergic cream that is has been available since 2019 for treating excessive armpit sweating and odor, Ecclock gel エクロックゲル. With insurance, it would cost about 3,000 yen a month. So cheaper than Botox for the season. It’s supposed to take about two weeks to begin taking full effect, so you might want to see a dermatologist before it gets really hot, if you are going with this option.

12. Did you try using Nano X as your laundry detergent? The normal one works freaking amazing and eliminates all smells for me. There’s also a version they sell that’s specifically made to remove bad smells.

13. Botox

14. Shave your pits, wear heavy-duty deoderant, and reduce your intake of onions, meat, and alcohol

15. I wouldn’t do that if I were you

16. Wasn’t there a thread just the other day about how to smell less? That would be a good place to start. Lots of good suggestions on that post.

17. Shower , dry off well. I spray rice vinegar under my pits. No smell, no chemicals. Been using it for years.
    Buy a ¥100 spray bottle.

18. The odor and stains are not from the sweat but from the bacteria that lives in that area. Trying antibacterial soap might help with your problem.

19. I sweat even in the office cause my colleagues want the aircon set to really low…I drink ice water to cool me down and it works wonders for me

20. There is something called Drysol which might work. You might have to order from abroad, but it really cuts the sweat

21. If you are worried about smell, I recommend the ordinary glycolic acid. Use a few times on your armpits and its like magic, no smell at all. It kills the odour causing bacteria in your armpits

22. try botox first. The surgery is a bit troublesome. I think it leaves scars for a year or two. But I didn’t hear any bad consequences

23. Get Botox into your armpits before summer every year. That should last you the whole season. Don’t have any irreversible surgeries with tons of complications.

24. Okay I had this surgery. It only worked a TINY bit. I did it with insurance and it cost like 2mans though so maybe I just got the crap version. There’s one version where they just liposuction your apocrine glands out of the armpit and another version where they cut the whole armpit area open. I got the lipo version. Anyhow I still sweat like crazy. Right after the surgery I felt that the stank wasn’t assss bad, but now several years later I feel like my left armpit is just as stanky as before. My right one isn’t so terrible. There, that’s my experience.

25. This is no medical advice but you can look into fasting, for 2-3 weeks, only water. Consider it if you are healthy and don’t have any medical condition. I did it 5 years ago and it fixed some issues for me, including excessive sweat, smelly feet, sinus infection, high blood pressure, and more.

26. Little late to the party but here’s my two cents as a sweaty dude besides surgery:

    – smell: as a lot of people mentioned food and lifestyle will impact smell mostly. Bacteria on the skin interact with the sweat and cause the stink, not the sweat itself. So just a quick shower or t-shirt swap might help depending on if that’s feasible (in summer I do multiple quick showers without getting my head hair wet)

    – discoloration: had to throw out a lot of shirts too. The yellow staining for me was caused by the aluminium in the deodorant I was using. Try and see whether the one you use is aluminium heavy. Swap if possible, if not just let it dry completely before putting on your shirt.

    Hope this helps!