I'm finally getting ETS for my sweaty hands

tiago1995

Active member
After putting off the surgery for over 4 years from being too scared of its side effects, I finally decided I'm going through with ETS because I can't cope with having sweaty hands 24/7 anymore. It makes day-to-day life so much more difficult, in everything I do from using a simple smartphone, to writing in my textbooks to playing videogames. I can't afford other treatment options such as Botox and Iontophoresis, and antiperspirants clearly don't work as intended so I am pretty sure there is no other way to go at this point.

I live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and there are two very experienced surgeons in my area that my medical insurance will cover. Right now I'm sitting on the fence between trusting Dr Eduardo Saito or Dr Fernando David Silva with this procedure. I already have scheduled visits with both of them next week and I'll be discussing with them extensively about different aspects of the surgery such as how many procedures each of them have done in the past and at what level do they perform the sympathectomy (I would prefer to have only T4 cut, but I might accept T3 & T4 if they are able to convince me that it would be better). I'll be choosing the one I feel most comfortable with.

All in all, I'm very happy to have made my decision and I'm looking forward to having a new life free of the clamminess in my palms asap.
I also plan on coming back to this thread to give you new information regarding how everything turns out for me.
Wish me luck! :applause:
 
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I strongly, strongly, advise you not get ETS surgery. It is my biggest regret that I have to live with for the rest of my life. It stopped the sweating on my palms temporarily, but then it relapsed and they still sweat a lot.

Now, not only do my palms sweat but I have compensatory sweating in areas of my body I never had problems with before. My legs, buttocks, and back sweat profusely and it much more noticeable than sweaty palms ever were.

You might not experience compensatory sweating right away, you might not experience it for years after the surgery (I started to notice it after 4 years post-ETS), but you're almost 100% guaranteed to get some level of compensatory sweating in the future after ETS. Many people go through a "honeymoon" phase with ETS, and years later begin to sweat in other areas.

I wish I could go back and just get the sweaty palms. Sweaty palms are much easier to treat than sweaty butt, back, and legs.
 

Daniel007

Member
Hi Tigao,

Before you choose to undergo the ETS surgery, I would strongly advise you to read here posts of people who had palm sweating and did the surgery. Most of them regret this decision because after the surgery they got compensatory sweating. Some of them had it immediately and others over the years. These people started sweating in different parts of the body, and it became more severe and worse than the palm sweating.

There are different alternatives to treat your sweating. One of them is aluminum antiperspirants (Sweat Block, Carpe Lotion, Certain Dri, Odaban and others) as well as topical glycopyrrolate cream.

Another inexpensive alternative is making your own iontophoresis device. There's a lot of information on the internet about how to do it, even on youtube.

Besides it, there were some posts here of people who received replies from miraDry company that they are going to release a new device for palm sweating during 2018.

In summary, I understand that you suffer from palm sweating, but there are better alternatives than taking a risk of getting compensatory sweating after ETS surgery. You can try the aluminum antiperspirants / glycopyrrolate cream, make your own iontophoresis device or wait to next year for miraDry solution. ETS should be the last resort after you tried everything else.

Best Regards,
Daniel
 

Sprawling

Well-known member
Ionto should be at least tried before doing ETS. There are so many cheap options to making your own ionto device. ETS should be the absolute last option on your list or not even on your list. You are taking a HUGE gamble with your future.
 

tiago1995

Active member
From what I see, out of the 3 people here telling me not to get surgery only one has actually had it done, and unfortunately that's not enough to convince me that it's a bad choice.

In my own experience, I see far more people that previously suffered from sweaty hands reporting that they're glad they've had ETS than otherwise. Not to mention there's a great likelihood that people who are satisfied with the outcomes of ETS won't go back to posting online about the subject instead of just proceeding with living their lives.

I will still look further into the MiraDry solution regardless. Last time I checked in 2015 they were still far from having a technology ready for use on the hands. In their own words they said ''treatment outside of the axilla is not imminent''. I'll message them again and see what their response is this time.

Again, thanks for taking the time to reply.
 

NickM

Well-known member
I emailed Miramar Labs, and they said commercialization for the hand applicator will roll out in 2018.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

tiago1995

Active member
I emailed Miramar Labs, and they said commercialization for the hand applicator will roll out in 2018.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Are you considering that I live in South America, though? Will it also roll out overseas next year? (We already have clinics that do Miradry for the axilla here).

And as far as patient costs are involved, is the treatment expected to cost roughly the same as Miradry for underarms?
 

Sprawling

Well-known member
Another option would be to ask the doctor(s) for referrals from patients 5 years post op.

I wouldn't just go through the posts on this thread. Read through all the threads and you will see a wide variety of responses. Rule out the people who had ETS done 1-2 years recently as problems seem to start 3-5 years out or more.

If the doctors you visit do not recommend you trying other options beforehand then they are more in it for the money than your future outcome. Like I said, ask for post op referrals. Guarantee they won't give them to you.

ETS can be like back fusion surgery. If it works it makes you feel great for a bunch of years till the stress of the fusion causes stress on the non fused parts.

How old are you and how long have you had excessive sweating? I fully understand the impact of sweaty dripping hands after 50+ years of dealing with it. I also know my own body. Do you sweat in other areas when the weather is hot. If so what areas. With ETS you are guaranteed that those other areas will get even worse than they are now. These are things I pondered when I looked into the surgery. My body always sweat easily, especially when I was younger. Your body needs to sweat, so if you already sweat in other areas beyond the average person are you really willing to take the risk that is non reversible and almost zero possibility of being treated?

Why haven't you tried other options first? A year out of your life trying other options is a safer gamble. You can always do ETS if all else fails. Just food for thought. Sounds like your mind is already made up.

I'm not a 20 something giving you advice.... I've lived through the horrors and embarrassment of having no treatment options and doctors just telling me it's because I am nervous. Yet somehow I got married, had a child, got divorced and had other long term relationships. Not saying it was easy and it really sucked my feet soaking through leather shoes making them turn white.

Enjoy...
 
In my own experience, I see far more people that previously suffered from sweaty hands reporting that they're glad they've had ETS than otherwise.

Quite often those people are still in the "honeymoon" phase of ETS. As I mentioned, ETS was good for about 4 years. But compensatory sweating can occur years after the surgery. Some have reported it happening 7+ years later.
 
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Jadal

Member
ETS in theory might seem good and all well, but the idea of having your Nerve cut just horrifies me as a human.

Nerves were never meant to be toyed with.
 

tiago1995

Active member
I just contacted Miramar Labs via their e-mail address on the topic of MiraDry for hands today and this is what they've said:

Thank you for your interest in miraDry.

Unfortunately, we have no new information we can share regarding use of miraDry for treatment of hands.

Best Wishes,

Customer Service

I don't see the reason why so many people on these forums seem so optimistic about such a product being rolled out next year. There isn't even any hint about it on their website. I have even less hope that it will be available overseas anytime soon, much less affordable at all in my home country.

ETS is still the only reasonable option for me.

Quite often those people are still in the "honeymoon" phase of ETS. As I mentioned, ETS was good for about 4 years. But compensatory sweating can occur years after the surgery. Some have reported it happening 7+ years later.

Do you recall what T levels/ganglions you had clamped/cauterized?
 

JoeSmith

Member
I got ETS done in Jan 2017. Hands are completely dry now which is awesome. I work in an office so there is a lot of hand shaking etc. My armpits also do not sweat as much (used to get pit stains all the time but not anymore). I do notice that if I start over heating, I get sweat right under each peck and on my back. If I continues then yes it will show through a t-shirt. I also notice my lower body sweats more. It is basically from my waist down. Even my shins are sweaty! Note - This sweating is only when I'm really over heating, like its summer time and hot outside, and I am wearing a suit.

On the bright side, I do not regret this surgery yet as the pros definitely out weigh the cons. I am confident now as I know if there is a handshake involved, my hand will be completely dry.

I would say, if you have tried all other ways and nothing has worked, then yes get the surgery!

Goodluck-
 

Sprawling

Well-known member
Joe, what do you say to tiago1995 who has not tried all the options? I'm glad you're happy that your hands are dry. I just hope your compensatory sweating doesn't get worse over time. I guess it's a very personal issue having ETS. I decided against years ago knowing that my body over heats naturally and sweats all over. It was horrible when I was younger, but I just accepted it.

I can't say I ever made peace with my hand sweating, but just learned to accept it and deal with it. I wish that when I was younger there were options and others to talk with about HH. People today are so fortunate to have a forum such as this.

Anyways, thanks for truthfully sharing your ETS story with us all.
 

tiago1995

Active member
I just came back from my office visit to Dr Fernando, and after a long conversation about T levels and such he has basically handed me the choice of having my operation done on T3 or T4 to treat my palmar hyperhidrosis. He noted that he normally does T3 for palmar HH as the level of dryness achieved on the hands through this method is considered superior than cauterizing only T4, which is mostly used by him when treating isolated axillary hyperhidrosis. I am now quite unsure of what I should opt for, seeing as there is currently some literature our there suggesting T4 should be the preferred method seeing as it produces less compensatory sweating (you can see it at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1743919114001381#bib7).

I am very unsure of what my decision should be right now. Anyone willing to give me their two cents on this subject?
Thanks!
 

tiago1995

Active member
Hey guys. It's only been 3 days since surgery so it's early to say much in respect to ETS but all in all it hasn't been too bad until now. I still have some (manageable) pain at the incision sites close to the chest and it seems like my breathing has finally returned to normal. Yesterday I experienced some mild compensatory sweating in my chest and back but my hands remained dry the whole time. We'll see how that will develop from now.
 

DazedAndConfusd

Active member
Hey guys. It's only been 3 days since surgery so it's early to say much in respect to ETS but all in all it hasn't been too bad until now. I still have some (manageable) pain at the incision sites close to the chest and it seems like my breathing has finally returned to normal. Yesterday I experienced some mild compensatory sweating in my chest and back but my hands remained dry the whole time. We'll see how that will develop from now.

Hi, new here. I'm getting micro-ETS first thing tomorrow so it appears I'll be in a similar situation. I have all my medications on hand and ready.

Anyway, good luck to you and thank you for sharing.
 

SweatyCanuck

Well-known member
I had it done a couple years ago. Easily biggest regret of my life. Compensatory sweating is unbearable year round if my body even remotely thinks it's warm. Dry hands are great but looking like you soiled yourself all summer long is way worse than dripping hands could ever be. One thing to note- since my hands are dry now I realize that a lot of people I shake hands with have sweaty hands. It always seems worse to yourself than it really is. Mine used to drip non stop. Now they don't but my entire body from the nipples down do. Not a good trade off. I know you'll make your own choice and probably do it. That's what I did. I just don't think anyone realizes how bad the side effects are.
 
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