Iontophoresis and other sweating treatment options: Overview for excessive sweating treatments
There are many possible ways to treat Hyperhidrosis, ranging from Drugs, Antiperspirants, Surgery, Botox and Iontophoresis.
Below is a table showing the main treatment methods:
Treatment | Comment / Advantages | Possible side effects/disadvantages | Further information |
Surgery – ETS | Invasive - Has a reported 99% success rate to stop palm sweating. | Surgery almost always results in compensatory sweating, causing possible severe sweating in other parts of the body (back, thighs, head, feet etc), among other potential side-effects. | |
Botox Injections | Invasive injections. High levels of dryness usually achieved. Effects can last from 4 to 12 months. | Palm injections can be very painful. There is a possibility of nerve poison, and sweating will return eventually. It is also very expensive and the body can build up immunity to its effects. | |
Homoopathie | does not work for hyperhidrosis | No sideeffects, no effects | |
Aluminium chloride | Non-invasive, stong antiperspirant, Effects can last for up to two weeks, good results for armpit sweating. | Aluminium ingredients (some say it triggers Alzheimer). Ingredients can cause skin irritation or inflammation. It does not work for everyone. Works very well for armpit sweating (around 80% success rate) and is mostly ineffective for palm and plant sweating (the feet and hands cause of the thick skin). | |
Patches | Only for underarm usage | Does not stop the sweat, it is only a sweat-collector | |
Iontophoresis | Non-invasive | in some cases little side effects like "itchy red treatment areas" for some minutes (high success rate) | Iontophoresis |
Conclusion:
Unfortunately there is no permanent cure for Hyperhidrosis ; the success of each individual treatment varies from patient to patient.
Iontophoresis has only recently begun to gain popularity for the treatment of excessive sweating, but it is proving to be a reliable, cheaper alternative to Botox injection, Antiperspirant and ETS surgery, without the risk of unrereversible side effects.