Although the domain name of this website might suggest a bias against Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy (ETS) surgery for hyperhidrosis, that is not entirely true. Sympathectomy does seem to be a highly effective remedy for many people suffering from persistently sweaty hands. However, there are nowadays a number of safer alternative non-surgical remedies to cure or ameliorate hyperhidrosis. ETS surgery destroys part of your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) permanently and causes side effects in all patient. The most common side effect of compensatory sweating is immediately evident after surgery in warm environments. However, some side effects such as gustatory sweating and cold hands often appear several years after the surgery. After my own ETS surgery in 1998 for hand sweating, I got one really bothersome side effect of significantly increased feet sweating. However, this side effect was later cured by HIDREX iontophoresis. Back in 1998, the internet was still in its early stage of development and hyperhidrosis related information was dominated by pro-sympathectomy websites. Today, if I was doing it all over again, I would definitely try iontophoresis machines such as HIDREX and IDROMED first before considering surgery. Sympathectomy should only be considered as a choice of treatment after the numerous other alternatives have been explored (discuss in the hyperhidrosis forum). Unfortunately, most surgeons downplay and don't fully disclose all the side effects of sympathectomy due to the lucrative nature of this quickie half hour surgical procedure and/or due to an inflated ego that might arise from performing a surgery that is seemingly a minor scientific miracle. Moreover, a majority of surgeons devote minimal information (that is usually critical) on their websites regarding potentially successful alternative treatments such as iontophoresis, Botox and Robinul.
This website's mission is:
Besides hyperhidrosis, endoscopic thoracic sympathectomy is often used to "cure" severe Facial Blushing, Social Phobia, Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy, Causalgia, Raynaud's Syndrome and a number of other such problems. Many surgeons have stopped offering ETS as a cure for most of these problems due to frequent ineffectiveness, symptom re-occurrences and unwanted side effects. Almost all well known surgeons no longer offer sympathectomy for the sole purpose of eliminating excessive armpit (axillary) sweating. It is normal to sweat in the armpits, while Botox seems to be highly effective at stopping armpit sweating for months at a stretch. Many creams and lotions are also very effective at reducing armpit sweating. Various types of sweat gland excision surgeries in the armpits are also reasonably effective and certainly less invasive than ETS. A few surgeons nowadays also recommend not getting ETS just to eliminate excessive facial sweating or facial blushing. Lumbar sympathectomy to stop excessive feet sweating was on the verge of obsolescence until 2008, when some eminent surgeons felt that its side effects were not as significant as thought of previously. I recommend NOT getting lumbar sympathectomy unless you want to be a guinea pig.
Check out the pages on hyperhidrosis treatments and short-term and long-term side effects from having hyperhidrosis surgery before proceeding to the forums or booking the surgery. Most importantly, remember that the ganglions/nerves that are killed during ETS are underneath the chest near the ribs, and not inside your hands or feet or face as you would think. These ganglions are part of your sympathetic nervous system that affects numerous parts and mechanisms of your body -- ranging from your hypothalamus to heart rate. Moreover, the effectiveness of ETS nerve graft reversal surgery is still unclear.
Note that some of the information on this website is based on my personal opinion. Most ETS surgeons who have sent me e-mails have told me that the content on my website is scientifically accurate and unbiased. Being a hyperhidrosis sufferer who has tried most treatments, who has had ETS surgery in 1998 for palmar sweating, and who has communicated with numerous hyperhidrosis patients, surgeons, surgery marketing companies and non-surgical treatment product vendors, I provide an invaluable source of information that is not contaminated by financial self-interests. Using the above contact methods, please let me know if there are any errors you find on this website, or if you have any ideas for improvements in the content and layout. Please read the whole site and post on the forums before e-mailing me any questions, as I do not always have time to respond immediately.
This website was first published on the web in November 2005, but then redesigned with the addition of the hyperhidrosis forum and republished in January 2006.
All content on this site is copyrighted material. In 2008, a hyperhidrosis "support group" in the UK used a page of my website's original content in its newsletter without citing the source, assuming its okay to plagiarize on the internet. Despite my finding out and letting them know, it seems like they used the copied content again in 2009. The group is clearly unprofessional and pretends otherwise. As long as you provide an easily visible link to my site when you copy from it, I will generally let you use the content.
