Hi All
If you've had a surgery or a less invasive procedure done it would be helpful to post your experiences and reviews on the board. :blush:
If you've already talked about your procedure, feel free to cut and paste it here. I will also add some of the posts from the old MSN board.
Please, place as many details, such as:
1. Procedure
2. Odor Type/Condition
(i.e. Underarm Bromhidrosis, Underarm Hyperhidrosis, etc.)
3. Year of Procedure
4. Review of Procedure
My Personal Experience:
Procedure: Axillary Botox Injections
Condition: Bromhidrosis and Mild Hyperhidrosis
Year: 3 separate sessions of botox type A injections during 2004 and 2005
Review: Unsuccessful. It didn't stop the sweating or the odor. But for the first couple of days it changed the smell of my odor to a more sweet smelling sweat. Not in a good way, just a different type of sweat smell from my usual sour, musty, typical underarm odor smell. :s
Procedure: ETS Surgery (Clamps) & Reversal ETS
Condition: Axillary Bromhidrosis and Mild Hyperhidrosis
Year: 2005
Review: First day after the surgery was a success. No odor, no smell, no reactions. Lots of pain. :-/ It went downhill afterwards. Sweating came back, odor came back and the reactions returned. I started sweating heavily in other places, such as my legs and lower back.
There is about a 2 week window after the ETS clamping sugery where you can have the procedure reversed and all the side effects and prior sweating will return. I waited a week and had the procedure reversed. Everything went back to normal. :-/ But at least it didn't get worse.
Cheers,
Melissa[hr]
For more info.
Source: http://bodyandbreathodor.multiply.com/journal/item/169
Date: July 26, 2002:
Author: Groovy Knight
Hello,
Actually this surgery is quite well known among this community. Axillary sweat gland excision is the surgical way to go for brommies, while ETS may be more suitable for people with hyperhidrosis. Barbara and "Still Hoping" in the old forum have done the excision and reported that it is successful. This is also what I have read on many web pages. In addition there aren't any horrible stories regarding this operation, because it is just a skin operation and the risk is minimal, while ETS involves cutting a nerve. For ETS, severe compensatory sweating / internal heating have been reported. The excision method is also safer (and more effective for brommies) because all you lose is your sweat glands in that area, but what ETS does is all the skin controlled by that particular nerve will no longer sweat, so compensatory sweating in other areas may be significant. The reason I say excision is more effective for brommies is that ETS is known to control eccrine gland sweating, and its effect on apocrine secretion (which causes the odor for us brommies) has not been reported; whereas in the excision surgery, eccrine glands and axiilary glands are removed directly.
What I am thinking is, rather than doing a life long deodorant search, why don't try something permanent. I will keep posting, and if my surgery is successful, I hope more and more people will try this and have their problems solved too. The surgery may sound a bit expensive but if it does work, it is certainly cheaper than buying deodorants for years to come, and most importantly, it shortens the suffer period remarkably.
Date: September 2, 2002
Authur: (Groovy Knight)
Hi everyone,
The surgery has been very effective so far, but long term effectiveness is to be seen. Here are some steps that I would advise you to take if the problem affects you so much that it really affects your life, like what it did to me.
1. Do a full body checkup for internal problems that may have caused the odor. Diabetes, renal or digestive system diseases can lead to body odor. The problem may also be caused by TMAU or yeast - if you suspect you have these problems you may need a doctor more specialized, but note that these symptoms are quite rare.
2. If you are healthy, the problem most probably comes from over development of aprocrine sweat glands. And in most cases it is the underarm. If this is the case, many members here have provided great solutions like different kinds of medication and deodorants (Zinc and magnesium were quite effective for me). If the problem still persists, or if it has reduced but still affects your life (like me), surgery may be the solution.
3. If you consider doing the surgery here is my experience. My surgery costs around $3000 US. I do not live in the US but I read from previous posts that in US the surgery costs about the same. After the surgery (please read the post "I am going to have my surgery" for details), you need to take care of the wound carefully for about 2 weeks. After that you will have a stretchy feeling when you raise your arms. But from what I have read and what the doctor told me, the feeling will leave in a couple of months.
I know some people consider surgery too aggressive. At the end of the day it really depends on how much the problem affects you. As for myself, I will become a professional and I can't risk having this problem at work. I would do anything to get rid of this problem - that's why I chose surgery. It really changed me a lot. I read one of the posts where the author had to decline invitations and social activities. I had done the same. But now people do not have reaction even if I am in a packed elevator or in a crowded subway train. I can go to the cinema again without worrying about others' reaction and can now actually enjoy the movie. In the past when I did these things, the experience was horrible. I skipped a lot of lectures in college. I really wish I had done this earlier.
I think I have found my solution. This may be the solution for you too, but even if you don't think so, we have a very nice group here which provides support. The group had comforted me a lot even though I didn't post a lot. I wish all bromies best wishes, and I will keep posting.
Cheers,
Groovy Knight
Reviews: Surgeries & Procedures
