Suffering from excessive sweating: what really works?
Excessive sweating, medically known as hyperhidrosis, is more than a minor inconvenience for many people. Wet underarms, sweat stains, and odor can significantly impact work, social situations, and self-confidence.
You may search online for a “permanent solution for sweating”, but quickly encounter a confusing mix of mostly temporary solutions.
So what actually works – and what doesn’t?
What can you read here?
A comparison of the most commonly used solutions for sweating
- Strong deodorants and antiperspirants
- Muscle relaxant injections (“botox”)
- Medication (anticholinergics)
- Surgical suction-curettage
- miraDry treatment
Summary: key differences between all solutions for unwanted or excessive sweating
A comparison of the most commonly used solutions for sweating
1. Strong deodorants and antiperspirants
Antiperspirants reduce sweating through aluminum salts that temporarily block the sweat glands, unlike regular deodorants which only mask odor.
Advantages:
- Easily available
- Low cost
Disadvantages:
- Only works superficially
- Requires daily (often repeated) use
- Insufficient solution for moderate to severe sweating
👉 Conclusion: only a temporary solution that treats symptoms (no lasting effect).
2. Muscle relaxant injections against sweating
In Belgium, injections with a muscle relaxant (“botox”) are often used as a treatment for excessive sweating.
Advantages:
- Quick reduction in sweating
Disadvantages:
- Painful treatment
- Only lasts 4–9 months
- Requires repeated sessions, often multiple times per year
- Increasing cost over the long term
👉 Conclusion: effective, but temporary, painful, and costly.
3. Medication (anticholinergica)
Anticholinergics are medications (including oxybutynin and glycopyrronium) that reduce excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis) by blocking the sweat glands via the nervous system.
They are usually taken as oral tablets. Although effective for generalized hyperhidrosis, they are often used only as a second-line treatment due to their many side effects.
Advantage:
- Treats generalized hyperhidrosis (not limited to the underarms)
Disadvantages:
- Temporary effect
- Side effects such as dry mouth and blurred vision
- Not suitable for long-term use
👉 Conclusion: effective, but temporary and associated with many side effects.
4. Surgical removal
In severe cases of axillary hyperhidrosis (excessive underarm sweating), a surgical suction-curettage (sweat gland removal) is sometimes considered.
Advantage:
- Permanent solution
Disadvantages:
- Invasive
- Risk of scarring and complications
👉 Conclusion: effective, but invasive and higher risk.
5. MiraDry: permanent solution without surgery
The miraDry treatment uses controlled energy to permanently disable sweat glands in the underarms. These glands do not grow back, making the results long-lasting. After one or (in rare cases) two treatments, an average sweat reduction of around 80% can be achieved, with high patient satisfaction. In addition, odor glands are also targeted, providing a double benefit: less sweating and less odor.
Advantages:
- Permanent solution
- No surgery required
- Reduces both sweating and odor
- No repeated treatments needed
Disadvantages:
- Only for underarm sweating (axillary hyperhidrosis), not for excessive sweating of the hands, feet, etc.
- Higher one-time cost, but cheaper in the long term than muscle relaxant injections, which must be repeated several times per year, quickly exceeding the cost of a single miraDry treatment (€1500).
👉 Conclusion: effective, permanent, non-invasive.
Reference: Tanzella U, Ueberreiter K, Bell A, Krapohl MA, Krapohl BD. Patient satisfaction after miraDry® treatment for axillary hyperhidrosis. Results of an online patient survey after miraDry® treatment to reduce excessive axillary sweating. GMS Interdiscip Plast Reconstr Surg DGPW. 2024 Oct 15;13:Doc06. doi: 10.3205/iprs000188. PMID: 39559459; PMCID: PMC11570828.
Why is miraDry the only permanent, non-surgical treatment for excessive sweating?
Unlike other treatments for sweating, miraDry targets the root cause of sweating, namely the sweat glands themselves.
👉 Important: These sweat glands are permanently eliminated and do not grow back, making this approach fundamentally different from all temporary solutions.
As a result, miraDry is the only non-surgical, permanent solution for underarm sweating.
Summary: all solutions against unwanted or excessive sweating compared
| Treatment | Result | Permanent | To be repeated |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Deodorant and antiperspirants | Limited | ❌ | Daily |
| 2. Injections with muscle relaxant (“botox”) | Good | ❌ | 2x per year |
| 3. Medication | Variable | ❌ | Continuous |
| 4. Surgery | Good | ✅ | No |
| 5. miraDry | Very good | ✅ | Rarely (second treatment) |
Want to quickly find out if the miraDry treatment is the ultimate solution for your excessive sweating? Fill in our online miraDry questionnaire
Are you unsure whether a permanent solution for excessive sweating is right for you? Would you like to take the first step toward a lasting solution to your sweating problem?
Good news: you don’t need to book a consultation right away. At Global Care Clinic, you can easily complete an online miraDry questionnaire that allows us to quickly determine whether you are eligible for the treatment.
Fill in our online miraDry questionnaire and receive immediate personalized advice. Completely non-binding.
Or schedule a consultation and discover how you can permanently say goodbye to excessive sweating.
Do you have any questions?
Would you like to discuss whether this treatment could be right for you?
Then make your non-binding appointment for a consultation at our clinic.
