Yesterday, I was invited to a lunch to learn about Miramar Labs newest technology for excessive sweating: miraDry. MiraDry is a non-invasive treatment done in the doctor’s office to help prevent excessive underarm sweating. The statistics of the suffering of people who deal with this condition (called hyperhidrosis) is staggering: 1 in 5 adults in the US deal with excessive sweating, but less than half are aware that it’s a real condition or ever go to a doctor to talk about it. Of those, 74% admit to avoiding personal situations because of their sweating by limiting physical contact, dating, exercise, or friend and family outings. Fifty-eight percent experienced a negative professional or work situation because of their sweat (almost 91% felt lack of confidence during a presentation, 45% have specifically not pursued a job or career because of it, and 41% even cancelled or rescheduled a job interview). Clearly, the condition can be life-debilitating.
A common procedure to eliminate excessive sweating has been Botox. What Botox does is it blocks the neurotransmitters that causes sweating, but has to be done every 6-7 months and at some practices costs about $2,000 every time. That’s why this new FDA-approved procedure is somewhat refreshing: miraDry actually eliminates sweat glands and only takes 1-2 visits for lasting results. Cost? about $3,000 for the two visits total (may be less in other areas). Plus, unlike Botox, it’s non-invasive–no needles or cuts.
The procedure is simple: The doctor applies a little local anesthesia like lidocaine to numb the area, then applies the miraDry handset over the underarm area. The device, which has a little bit of a painless vacuum effect, delivers precise, controlled electromagnetic energy to heat and eliminate sweat glands. It also contains a cooling system to protect the skin. There’s no downtime and afterwards, there’s a little swelling, but it doesn’t last long.
There were miraDry patients who spoke to us saying the procedure was “life-changing.” One said she doesn’t even need to use deodorant anymore. I asked Dr. David Goldberg who was there to talk about the treatment if eliminating the sweat glands leads to overcompensation of sweat in other areas. He said they haven’t found that happen at all (you’re removing sweat glands, but obviously not ALL of your 400 million sweat glands!).
I thought it was an interesting breakthrough in the area for hyperhidrosis sufferers. Would any of you get it done? Do you think it’s worth it?
x
Shy
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where was this when i was taking salsa as a freshmen with a verrrryyyy sweaty, nervous boy?
That sounds..horrible…