10 Ways To Reduce Underarm Sweat Without Surgery
Sweating is nature’s way of protecting your body from overheating, but when the sweat stains on your clothes become a cause of embarrassment to you, it’s time to look for solutions to reduce underarm sweat. Excessive underarm sweating is a medical condition called axillary hyperhidrosis and aside from being very annoying, it can make you lose confidence in yourself and even avoid going out in public. Many factors such as obesity, stress, unhealthy food choices, metabolic disorders, and hormonal conditions contribute to excessive sweating. Using these remedies, you can control your underarm sweat problem and get back your self-esteem.
Non-invasive and Natural Solutions
1. Topical Antiperspirants
Topical antiperspirants are available as the regular products that you can buy at your local store. If these products aren’t effective enough, you can opt for the stronger versions or clinical strength formulations that are also available at the local store.
For an excessive underarm sweat problem, consult your physician and request for a prescription antiperspirant. Such products are even more effective and can typically help you with the most severe of sweating issues. The secret behind their proper use is to make sure that your skin is absolutely dry before you apply them and use them just before going to bed.
2. Natural Antiperspirants
In place of drug store-bought products, you can try grocery store-bought products to control the sweat. Try rubbing alum, lime, or apple cider vinegar on your underarms. Alum contains aluminum hydroxide that can not only stop bacteria from growing, but it also acts as a natural antiperspirant. Using alum over a long period can actually shrink the sweat glands. Both lime and apple cider vinegar should be used at bedtime and washed off in the morning. Rub the lime slices to reduce underarm sweat and the resulting odor. Or, make a solution by adding few drops of apple cider vinegar to a bowl of water and apply to stop the sweating.
3. Absorbent Innerwear
While absorbent innerwear may not reduce underarm sweat, they can help you conceal the problem. Try wearing absorbent dress shirts, undershirts, or T-shirts that can wick away sweat and keep you dry. You also have the option of wearing absorbent underarm sweat pads. However, these solutions can only conceal the problem and not actually help you get rid of it.
4. Add Bathing Salts to Your Bath Water
Make a mixture of ½ cup of borax with 1 cup each of baking soda, sea salt, and essential oil. Choose from geranium, peppermint, orange, or lemon. Add half to one cup of the mix to your bathing water, warm or cold and soak in it for 20 to 30 minutes. The properties in the ingredients work to open your pores and help your body release impurities. Thus, they help reduce underarm sweat.
5. Get Steam Baths
Have steam baths twice a day – in the morning and night – for 15 to 20 minutes at a time. Steam baths work to detoxify your body and also lower your stress levels. Considering that stress is a major cause of excessive underarm sweating, steam can help eliminate the problem.
6. Use Tomatoes
Make juice with fresh, juicy tomatoes and drink it every day for a week. Their antioxidant properties can help reduce underarm sweat. You can also try rubbing some of the pulp on your underarms.
Other Solutions for Underarm Sweat
7. miraDry
Approved by the FDA in 2011, the miraDry procedure works to eliminate the underarm sweat glands completely by way of thermolysis. Created especially to reduce underarm sweat, the miraDry device uses electromagnetic energy delivered with careful precision to the areas where the sweat glands are located. The resultant heat decomposes the glands that cannot regenerate and thus, helps you get rid of excessive sweating for good. The miraDry procedure works very well on both, axillary hyperhidrosis and axillary osmidrosis, a condition where the sweat has a bad odor.
8. Surgical Options
For excessive underarm sweating issues, you can opt for an individual or combination of surgical procedures. For instance, excision where the surgeon removes the underarm sweat glands or curettage where the glands are scraped off. Should you opt for liposuction, the dermatologist will remove the glands by suction. Yet another option is lasers. Laser solutions to reduce underarm sweat are typically used in conjunction with liposuction. By directing laser heat on the sweat glands, the surgeon liquefies them much like melting down fat cells. Later, using liposuction the glands are removed. All of these options can be given with just local anesthesia and the patient is awake the whole time.
9. Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy or ETS
ETS or Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy is the most invasive solution for getting rid of underarm sweat stains permanently. Rarely recommended by physicians because of the many downsides that can result from the procedure, ETS cannot be reversed. Surgeons perform the surgery under general anesthesia and work on blocking the nerve signals relayed from the spinal cord to the sweat glands. They may cut or eliminate the nerve pathways that connect the overactive sweat glands.
10. Botox Injections – Effective and Minimally Invasive
Approved by the FDA and ideal for controlling excessive sweating, botulinum toxin type A Botox injections can help block the impulses from the nerves from reaching your muscles. The resulting numbing effect on the sweat glands stops them from overacting. Such treatments are minimally invasive, safe and effective.
Looking to Reduce Underarm Sweat? Yes, It’s Possible!
Underarm sweat, aside from being an embarrassing problem can also be a hygiene issue. The bacteria that grows in the warm, moist areas of your underarms can cause not just odor but also skin infections. Using the above solutions depending on the severity of the issue, you can reduce underarm sweat and restore your confidence.
