Hyperhidrosis Treatment: (Hands, Feet and Armpits)

Dr. Rafael Reisfeld

Welcome to the Internet's most comprehensive website for hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). There is finally an effective surgical breakthrough for the treatment of excessive sweating! Excessive sweating of the hands, feet and armpits or any combination of these conditions is known as hyperhidrosis. This breakthrough treatment is available and in practice at The Center for Hyperhidrosis in Los Angeles, California. Here, leading expert Dr. Rafael Reisfield can often times eliminate the discomfort and embarrassment of excessive sweating once and for all with a simple surgical procedure.

The surgical solutions for hyperhidrosis are finely-tuned and proven surgical procedures that take advantage of the latest endoscopic techniques. Dr. Reisfeld performs the procedures regularly, virtually on a daily basis, and is considered a leading authority in this field. Dr. Reisfeld has performed the ETS procedure more than any other U.S. doctor!

Most of Dr. Reisfeld's patients return to regular physical activity, that includes returing to work, results within 2 or 3 days of surgery, on average. To learn more of the Surgery Details click here.

What is Hyperhidrosis?

Hyperhidrosis is defined as an excessive and non physiological amount of sweat produced by the body. It can be a generalized situation where excessive sweating appears all over the body or focal hyperhidrosis where the excessive sweating is situated in areas such as the hands, armpits, feet or the face.

Learn More About:
Sweaty Palms, Sweaty Feet, Sweaty Armpits
Read Patient Testimonials

Important Facts About Hyperhidrosis:

• Hyperhidrosis affects between 1 and 2% of the population.
• There is no known difference in those who are affected with regard to race or gender.
• Family genetic history is believed to play a major role in hyperhidrosis.
• The most common areas of focal hyperhidrosis are in the hands, feet and armpits.
• Hyperhidrosis can negatively affect people both socially and functionally in their daily lives.
• For those who suffer from excessive sweating for whom conservative treatments have not worked there are now new outpatient surgical procedures available.
• Historically doctors have underestimated and or misunderstood the significant impact hyperhidrosis has on patient's lives.
• Continual advancements are being made in both instrumentation and technique.
• Conservative treatments have limited success rates.

Hyperhidrosis Treatments:
The wish to control excessive sweating with simple means such as pills, lotion, etc is very old. Doctors have tried to treat excessive sweating with pills, lotions, deodorants, electric devices, acupuncture, bio-feedback. The success rate for the severe cases is extremely limited. Surgical treatments were available for the last 50 to 60 years. Obviously the initial surgical approaches were quite invasive and had complications. Since the development of optical surgical equipment, endoscopic surgeries became the yardstick for different procedures. Sympathectomy can be done now on an outpatient basis. There are minimal small incisions and the patient can return to normal activity in a short amount of time. Dr. Reisfeld has been a world leader in the development of endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy and now lumbar sympathectomy.

Learn More About:
Hyperhidrosis Treatment

Current Surgical Hyperhidrosis Treatments:
For severe hand sweating endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy (ETS) is the preferred approach. For excessive armpit sweating as the sole presentation then axillary suction curettage is the recommended method. For those who suffer from excessive foot sweating as the primary presentation or when ETS did not help their sweaty feet then lumbar sympathectomy is offered now as a surgical solution.

Excessive Sweating Surgical Solutions:
Hand Sweating Surgical Solution (Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy)
Foot Sweating Surgical Solution (Lumbar Sympathectomy)
Armpit Sweating Surgical Solution (Suction Curretage)

Hyperhidrosis Causes:
Over the last 15 to 20 years where more cases have been examined we realized that the most common denominator is genetic predisposition. In more than 50% in selected papers written by both Dr. Reisfeld and other authors it has consistently been shown that 50% or more have some genetic history. It is not always in successive generations as we have seen it skip generations. Other causes such as anxiety situations and dietary reasons have not proven to be a factor. On the other hand some trauma to the head and chest area can be traced to the source of hyperhidrosis in a very small amount of cases. There are other factors that may contribute to generalized total body hyperhidrosis and those are obesity, hyper thyroidism, infections, diabetes, etc.

Learn More About:
Hyperhidrosis Causes and Symptoms

Since the genetic factors are the most important with regards to excessive focal sweating it is the belief of Dr. Reisfeld that one day genetic manipulation will be the ultimate treatment modality. Unfortunately, at present, this is a very distant hope because the knowledge and know how are in their infancy stages.

Doctor Rafael Reisfeld - When Experience Counts:
For any potential patient who suffers from severe excessive sweating it is extremely important to talk with the surgeon who performs the operation. Any staff members (for example nurses, office managers and or personnel who do not perform the procedure) are not equipped to answer your questions appropriately.

Dr. Rafael Reisfeld, M.D., F.A.C.S., A.B.M.S., is a Board-Certified surgeon, diplomat of the American Board of Surgery, and known worldwide as one of the very best doctors in the field of hyperhidrosis. Dr. Reisfeld was one of the first doctors to perform the ETS procedure and continues to perform this surgery, as well as newly developed techniques on virtually a daily basis. He is continually published in various medical journals and has been interviewed by various media outlets such as Newsweek Magazine, Fox News, CBS, and many others for his expertise and knowledge in this field. Dr. Reisfeld's primary focus is helping those who suffer from hyperhidrosis and he is tirelessly working to improve methods used to accomplish that goal.

Learn More About:
Rafael Reisfeld
News Coverage of The Center For Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis History:
Initially the treatment for palmar hyperhidrosis was based on the elimination of the T2 sympathetic ganglia (nerve). This describes the anatomical location of the nerve segment responsible for this excessive sweating. Over the last 10 years the accumulated knowledge changed the focal treatment to the level T3-T4 which describes a segment somewhat lower to the one described above. This change and the utilization of titanium clips vs. destroying the nerve segment improved the current treatment. Another improvement is that now there are different surgical procedures available for different types of focal hyperhidrosis (Hands, Armpits, Feet).