Recently, a Mexican a social media influencer and bodybuilder Odalis Santos Mena, with over one lakh Instagram followers, died on 07 July this year after a botched up surgery to avoid excessive underarm sweating. Media reports suggest that the 23-year-old Odalis was recruited by the SkinPiel clinic in Mexico’s Guadalajara to promote the treatment to reduce underarm sweating, named MiraDry, which is apparently FDA approved. As per a report published in The Sun, the treatment works by using heat energy to remove sweat glands, which ultimately also leads to reduction of body odour and underarm hair, it claimed.
A report on Odalis in New York Post had claimed that she’d won the 2019 Miss and Mr. Hercules title as well as the Wellness Fitness Juvenile contest and was due to participate in a bikini contest in the US soon.
Russian roulette for perfection
It’s no secret that sweat can pose a serious problem to athletes in nearly all sports. Hyperhidrosis (or excessive sweating) and physical activity do not mesh well. From ruining workout clothing and equipment to actually decreasing a player’s performance, unchecked sweat poses a problem for nearly all athletes.
However, experts warn about the risk of developing infections when sweat glands are removed from the underarm. Among the many theories behind the death of the legendary Bruce Lee, one was that he had an operation to remove the sweat glands from his armpits.
Despite the dangers, as is with most things in the world of beauty and gloss, despite the potential dangers in the procedure, celebs, actors, models and sports personalities across the world have been getting their doctors to administer to them Botox injections for the removal of sweat glands to halt underarm sweating.
Western celebs getting the underarms procedure for excessive sweating include the feisty super-model and TV show hostess Chrissy Teigen and many others.
Chrissy Teigen
Back home in India, singer Shibani Dandekar posted a video of herself recently, undergoing armpits treatment for excessive sweating, she wrote, “The treatment which is completely non-invasive takes approx 60 mins and involves 3 simple steps. 1. The underarms are numbed using some local anaesthetic.
2. The area where you sweat from is identified and marked up.
3. The treatment is performed which involves the use of heat to break down your sweat glands under your arms permanently. Results are immediate. Benefits include not having to use a deodorant containing aluminium and other harmful substances [sic] And you don’t start sweating.”
Shibani Dandeka
Nothing to die for
Hyperhidrosis is a condition in which one experiences excessive sweating in multiple or single areas of the body especially armpits, hands, soles. While it can cause bad odour and discomfort, leading to embarrassment at social gatherings, sweating need not necessarily be a bad thing. “Sweating is necessary for normal thermoregulation of the body and hyperhidrosis has no risk to life if there is no underlying cancer,” says Dr Sasikanth Maddu, a senior plastic and cosmetic surgeon at Yashoda Hospitals. “When the sweating is excessive, it leads to bad odour when axillae (armpits), wet surfaces of the body or the palms and soles are involved. “However, the problem does cause much discomfort and a source of embarrassment, which may cause difficulties in social interactions and increases stress.”
Hyperhidrosis can be, localised, generalized or emotional. Emotional hyperhidrosis is aggravated in situations of emotional distress. Often, there may be no identifiable cause for hyperhidrosis, although it can be due to underlying conditions such as neurological disorder, malignancies (cancer), thyroid disorders, diabetes, psychiatric medications, antiviral medication especially anti-HIV medications or chronic alcoholism.
Dr Sasikanth explains, “Not one procedure is completely effective and both medical and surgical approaches should be used together. Patients need multiple visits to the clinic and sometimes multiple surgeries,” he explains.
Bruce Lee
Among the many theories behind the death of the legendary Bruce Lee, one was that he had an operation to remove the sweat glands. Several months before his death, Lee had an operation to remove the sweat glands from his armpits, because he thought dank pits looked bad on-screen. This reduced his body’s ability to dissipate heat.
Treatment pointers
Treating this condition, both medically and surgically can be challenging, for both the doctor and patient, we are told. “Initially, the line of treatment will be medical using drugs that decrease perspiration, like anti-cholinergic drugs,” explains Dr Sasikanth. “Drugs containing aluminium hydroxide and tannic acid, which when applied dissolves the surrounding keratin and blocks the gland openings. However, medical treatment is temporary and short lasting.”
As for surgical or invasive treatment, the doctor lists out some options, including the following:
l Lasers were found to be safe and effective.
l Subcutaneous liposuction is effective as it causes least disruption of the overlying skin and damages the sweat glands in the deep layers of skin.
l Localised areas especially in axilla can be treated by excision of the affected area and covering the raw area by primary closure or by skin grafting.
l Sympathectomy has been used since early nineties; in this procedure, the sympathetic ganglion responsible for the sweating are destroyed. This can be performed by open approach or endoscopically. The results are permanent although the procedure is associated with complications such as compensatory hyperhidrosis of other areas like tongue, damage to lungs or pneumothorax, and neuralgias of multiple areas, which is a sharp, shocking pain that follows the path of a nerve.
