Has anyone tried botulinum toxin?

[Role]

Hi!

I wonder if anyone has tried to get injections with botulinum toxin for palmar HH? If so, did it last about 9 months? And did you get some pain killers (same as dentists use) before the botox injections? And, if yes did the treatment hurt much anyways??

I'm asking this because this is the first step of treatment at my hospital (part from deo and such). Well, to say "my" hospital might not be entirely true though I've not been brave enough to contact them..yet.

(Pardon my bad grammar, this is not my first tongue)

 

[iDShaDoW]

I haven't yet. Hopefully sometime end of this week or early next week. I'll let you know how it goes.

Podiatrist warned me that it can be a bit painful, he's gonna just kinda numb my feet and hands with ice cubes and try that way and if it hurts too much he'll use the painkillers.

Also said that there might be a bit of bleeding on my feet and tenderness afterwards.

Supposedly they can do Botox through iontophoresis now but the place where I go doesn't have a machine.

 

[Role]

Oh, that sounds great! Let me know how it goes.

According to the hospital the procedure shouldn't hurt at all, if using the pain killers. But it would feel better to hear it from someone that has gone through it.

Hope it works well for you!

 

[iDShaDoW]

Bleh, turns out the insurance takes like up to 6 weeks to process the paperwork and send payment to the podiatrist so he says he'll get back to me when he hears from them...

Guess I'll let you know when I get to have it done...

 

[woofytalk]

I've tried it once. It was an expensive lesson learned. Botox works there's no doubt about it. I just couldn't see myself going back every 9 months, shelling out the dough and getting the injections. It was uncomfortable and I didn't want to give up on a natural way of treating my condition.

 

[iDShaDoW]

Yeah, I know what you mean, it's like $1000+ US for 100 units of Botox and it's like 25 units per hand or foot.

If I didn't have my insurance covering it there's no way I could afford it without cutting my expenses in other areas.

I'd prefer an iontophoresis unit myself but my podiatrist seemed more intent on the Botox (I think he makes more money with me coming back all the time for more Botox than if I got my iontophoresis machine and never came back).

 

[woofytalk]

Well, look on the bright side, at least insurance stepped up for you. I didn't have the luxury. Iontophoresis is a nice natural transition for people who won't or can't commit to botox.

Let me know how it works out for you.

Cheers.

 

[Jezza]

Well,

I tried it once and I can tell you it hurts...a lot...

It really hurts like crazy. Then again, as a painkiller they used emla in my case. It's some kind of topical cream that is applied to the skin and then should serve as anaesthetic. Yet I didn't really have the feeling that I had less feeling in my hands after this and judging by the intense pain I hadn't.

Also, they just did 10 injections in the right hand and 9 in the left hand, and didn't treat the fingers. I don't know what that was about, but they told me the fingertips are even more sensitive.

On the plus side, due to the communistic system in the Netherlands (which is a pain if you have something uncommon like HH and you want the treatment that's best) in this case I didn't have to pay anything outside my insurance.

The results are promising yet unsatisfactory. The botox definitely works in the places they injected it, those stayed dry for at least 5 months, after that I noticed that some mild sweating was coming back to those areas. Some areas are even quite acceptable right now after 8 months. However, my fingers obviously were still sweating and some parts of my palms as well, which meant that I still didn't have much advantage of the treatment. As for side effects there were none. The pain is gone immediately after treatment, but you have to keep the botox in the skin obviously , so just take it slow the first day. I played some basketball outside 3 days after and no worries at all (apart from sweating too much).

Because of this and the fact that the treatment would again be the same the next time with the same results, I didn't do it again since it's so painful. Yet, I'm confident that would they treat the complete hand it could be dry, so now I'm looking for a place I can get that done, and where they use a better anaesthetic (like an injection in the wrist, ice seems a little bit optimistic in my opinion).

 

[anastasia22]

i'm going to have the treatment done if we can get help from the insurance.

we got a reply back from them saying they needed more information and my dermatologist is sending another letter. Hopefully all will work out and I'll be able to get the treatment.

What I know is that if you have it done in the underarms there are about 20 injections in each underarm and it can cost between $1000-$4000 without insurance coverage. I was also told that it is painful...but whatever pain it is I know its going to be worth getting my life back!