Excessive sweating. It's a condition known as hyperhidrosis and occurs mostly in the armpits, hands and feet.
It can be a very embarrassing problem, but it is correctable for most.
Dr. Gilbert Schorlemmer, a Vascular and Thorasic Surgeon with MountainStar Healthcare, says, "If you look at all people with hyperhidrosis, only about a third ever seek any treatment at all so they just kind of suffer through it, which is sad when you have something that can be very successful."
The outpatient surgery is minimally invasive and is done through two small incisions on the side of the chest, ablating the nerve that stimulates the body's sweat mechanism.
"This is the same type of device we use in every surgery almost that's done to control bleeding. In this case, we're ablating the nerves, and we typically do a multiple ablation depending on if we're trying to hit just the hands," says Dr. Schorlemmer.
Additional ablations can be done in different areas of the nerve, providing relief to other parts of the body, including the armpits or feet.
Dr. Schorlemmer says the surgery has saved the careers who make a living with their hands like mechanics who can't hold their tools, pianists whose fingers slide off the keys and athletes.
"I've done a number of them and people like baseball players, and one fellow, it's been a number of years ago but he got, he was in trouble for throwing spitballs, because every time he threw it, it was soaked," says Dr. Schorlemmer.
Of those who undergo the surgery, the doctor sees up to 90 percent success rate.
Hyperhidrosis usually develops in one's teenage years and can continue to get worse as people age.
For more information you can go to utahcountyheart.com.
