Hyperhidrosis

Hyperhidrosis, or excessive sweating, causes discomfort, self-consciousness, and even difficulty doing normal tasks like typing or handling paper. Thankfully, effective treatment options are available to give patients relief from hyperhidrosis. Dr. Rashel Goodkin is an expert dermatologist who has trained with top institutions including Harvard. She offers hyperhidrosis treatment for patients in the Boston area.

What is Hyperhidrosis?

Hyperhidrosis is a condition that causes excessive sweating. This includes sweating when the body does not need to cool down. Patients dealing with hyperhidrosis experience excessive sweating from the hands, feet, underarms, or head, or sometimes other areas. This can interfere with normal activities or create issues such as sweat that soaks through clothes. Some patients may even develop skin infections due to the skin being wet too often.

Symptoms of Hyperhidrosis

Symptoms of hyperhidrosis include sweating which is visible, occurs when you are not exerting yourself, interferes with everyday activities, or causes the skin to turn soft and white, peel, or develop infections. Patients may experience sweating that occurs in one or more areas of the body, on one or both sides of the body, after waking up, or once a week or more. Excessive sweating often results in self-consciousness or anxiety. Hyperhidrosis can also be a symptom of another medical condition such as hyperthyroidism.

Treatment Options for Hyperhidrosis

After diagnosing hyperhidrosis, Dr. Goodkin may recommend a clinical-strength antiperspirant, which can be regularly applied to the underarms, hands, feet, or hairline.

Dr. Goodkin may also prescribe topical or oral medications to prevent excessive sweating. These are not recommended for patients who are athletes or work in a hot environment, as they may not be able to sweat adequately to cool themselves down in these conditions.

Other treatment options include iontophoresis, which is a device in which a small electrical current passes through water.

Botox can also be used for hyperhidrosis. This is particularly useful when hyperhidrosis effects the underarms or hands. Botox injections block stimulation of the sweat glands, and results last for about four to six months. At this point, injections can be repeated to maintain results from the treatment.

Schedule an Appointment

To schedule an appointment for hyperhidrosis treatment with Dr. Goodkin, call 781.227.7977 or request an appointment through our online form.