This is an automatically translated article.
Underarm odor is an obsession not only of the patient but also of the people around. The disease brings an unpleasant odor that makes you lose confidence every time you communicate. There are many different methods of treating underarm sweat, one of which is cutting the underarm sweat glands.
1. Distinguishing underarm sweating from hyperhidrosis
In fact, excessive sweating of the hands, feet or underarms is a condition called hyperhidrosis (called a condition, not a disease). If you have this condition, if you produce 1 liter of sweat a day, it must be secreted enough to stop.
If you have surgery to stop sweating in your hands, it will secrete elsewhere, like in your legs, or in your armpits. This is hyperhidrosis, which is completely different from underarm odor. Underarm odor is a chronic bacterial infection of the underarm sweat glands.
Underarm odor is often the result of large sweat glands containing unsaturated fatty acids and concentrated in the private areas such as armpits, so bacteria can easily penetrate and cause inflammation leading to an unpleasant odor, which is underarm odor.
Hyperhidrosis can occur on the palms, soles, armpits, groin and face. The cause of this condition is unknown, but it stimulates the sympathetic ganglia and causes excessive sweating.
Most doctors recommend self-treating this condition. This is a condition that affects the sympathetic nervous system, so it is important that you practice keeping your mental stability, avoiding excessive mental emotions such as anxiety, fear... exceed. You can practice meditation, yoga. Surgical treatment is only a secondary method when self-treatment is not effective.
2. Treatment of underarm odor by endoscopic Currently there are many different methods of treating underarm odor, but not all methods are highly effective and long lasting. However, with endoscopic treatment, it is considered a safe, effective method and helps to treat underarm odor permanently.
Treatment of underarm odor with endoscopic surgery is being considered the most effective method today, which can help eliminate underarm odor permanently after just one treatment. In particular, the deep impact on the sweat glands with specialized equipment, endoscopic suction tubes with cameras will make the treatment more effective.
It is easier to remove sweat glands because the structure of the sweat glands has been magnified many times on the screen so that the doctor can gently remove the infected sebaceous glands that cause the accompanying odor. That is excess fat under the arm area.
This is a method used by doctors to avoid invasive damage to neighboring cells. Before the procedure, you will be numbed so you won't feel any pain or discomfort during the procedure.
The laparoscopic surgery for underarm odor includes the following basic steps:
Step 1: The doctor examines and advises you Step 2: The doctor conducts a local anesthetic in the armpit to help you not pain during endoscopy to remove axillary sweat glands. Step 3: The doctor will conduct endoscopy to remove the axillary sweat glands. The doctor performs the treatment of axillary sweat glands, oiling the treatment area, then inserts the head of the endoscope with a camera attached to the probe to accurately determine the axillary sweat gland area in order to thoroughly aspirate and avoid damage to the surrounding area. Step 4: End the process of endoscopic removal of axillary sweat glands: Because this method does not require skin incision or removal, there is no need to suture after doing it, but only need to cover the treated armpit area with a medical bandage. dedicated.
3. Does armpit sweat gland removal hurt? When choosing to cut the sweat glands in the armpit to treat underarm sweat, are you worried about whether to cut the axillary sweat glands and whether cutting the axillary sweat glands will affect your health?
The surgical method of removing axillary sweat glands in situ, ie the doctor will remove most of the sweat glands under the skin under the skin, has a success rate of 70%, but the rate of complications such as leaving keloids , concave , wound infection , skin necrosis ... accounts for 20% , while mild complications can be handled . Therefore, you should consider carefully before choosing this method.
After endoscopic treatment of underarm odor, you can resume normal activities because this method is painless and does not cause complications and leaves no scars. The unpleasant underarm odor will disappear forever. In addition, the accumulation of fat in the armpit area is also overcome, the armpit hair will not grow back, so you will not have to spend time shaving, plucking or removing armpit hair.
4. Should armpit sweat glands be cut? Because removing the axillary sweat gland is an interventional surgery with a cutlery, to be safe, you need to have good health conditions. According to the doctor, the right cases to do surgery to remove sweat glands in the armpit are:
People 18 years of age and older. People with axillary hyperhidrosis. People with congenital underarm odor or underarm odor arising after puberty, pregnancy,... The condition of excessive sweating in the armpits even when not active much. Most people have these concerns before deciding to intervene to remove underarm sweat glands. To make the right decision, learn and analyze the advantages and disadvantages of this method.
The results of a 15 year clinical evaluation study of a hospital in the United States about sympathectomy for axillary hyperhidrosis are as follows:
Up to 93% of patients confirm that they do not have excessive sweating armpit odor again. There are 67% of patients satisfied with the results received. There are 26% partially satisfied patients. 7% of patients reported a return of sweat in their armpits. These numbers show you how effective this method is. However, axillary sweat gland removal still has some disadvantages as follows:
The pain you experience a lot after the anesthetic wears off. Especially for those who can't stand pain, they need to take medicine to reduce discomfort. Decreased sweating in the armpits but increased sweating in other areas of the body. The surgical method of removing axillary sweat glands often leaves ugly scars that are not aesthetically pleasing. If the surgery is incorrect, it can cause loss of sensation in the armpit, nerve pain, damage to the chest, Horner's syndrome causing drooping eyelids, ... Currently, instead of choosing sympathectomy to treat bad breath, axillary, many people have chosen to remove sweat glands through endoscopy. According to experts, the endoscopic method of axillary sweat gland aspiration has many outstanding advantages compared to the sympathectomy method. Specifically:
Non-invasive endoscopic method is very safe and does not harm health. Endoscopic sweat gland suction technique allows access and removal of 85% of sweat glands under the armpit. Eliminates underarm odor permanently, does not recur. The procedure takes only 60 minutes, and there is no downtime after surgery. Vinmec Times City International General Hospital is applying the technique of "endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy" in the treatment of hyperhidrosis: This is a new technique that has been applied in the past few years and has brought great results. many positive signals for patients. Surgery is only applicable to people over 18 years old.
Endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy, also known as sympathectomy, is surgery to destroy the sympathetic ganglia or the chain of ganglia that governs sweating. Surgery is performed routinely under general anesthesia. Specifically, the surgery is performed with 2-3 small 0.5 cm skin incisions on both sides of the chest wall under the armpits so that no scars are visible, ensuring the best aesthetics. The thoracic sympathetic ganglia is covered by a thin layer of transparent pleura, so it can be easily seen under the endoscopic camera. Then the surgeon uses an electrocautery hook and cuts the sympathetic ganglia from the 2nd thoracic vertebra to the 3rd thoracic vertebrae (the technical term is T2–>T3) for the patients with increased sweating in the hands. ; T2 - T4 for patients with axillary hyperhidrosis.
In addition, at Vinmec, we also treat hyperhidrosis with electrostatic ions with outstanding advantages such as:
Safe and effective treatment methods. Creates a negative ion environment to help eliminate free radicals in the body. The ion flow affects the sympathetic nervous system in the area of hypersecretion, helping to balance ions and prevent unexplained sweating.
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