As a dermatologist serving South Jersey, Dr. Robin Levin offers miraDry® for patients suffering from excessive underam sweating, known as hyperhidrosis. She has recently noticed, however, that more patients are coming in for the procedure to curb average levels sweating and ditch their deodorant.
The New Jersey dermatologist behind South Jersey Skin Care & Laser Center, Dr. Robin Levin, has seen interest in sweat reduction treatments grow in the past year—but not just among hyperhidrosis patients. Though the laser-based miraDry® has long been sought exclusively by people suffering due to excessive sweat, dermatologist Dr. Levin has noticed a shift in the patient base to average women and men looking to save time and money spent on antiperspirants and deodorants, as well as relieve a general concern over unwanted sweat stains and odors.
The shift has been gradual, as any dermatologist can tell you that people who suffer from the discomfort and embarrassment of excess sweat have found an increasing number of solutions to their unique problem as medical science has advanced. No longer tied to antiperspirants as their only means of staying dry, men and women forced to deal with soaked shirts on a daily basis have seen their options expand in recent years to include both medication- and surgery-based procedures designed to allow a dermatologist to temporarily or permanently reduce the fabric-drenching symptoms of their condition.
Among the many available treatments, miraDry® has proven to be a popular choice at dermatologists’ offices due to several factors, including a high patient satisfaction rate, permanent results (an 82 percent reduction in sweat), FDA safety clearance, 60 to 70 percent underarm hair reduction, a simple and quick noninvasive session, and immediate results.
Since miraDry® is minimally invasive and a single treatment session performed by a licensed medical esthetician at a dermatologist’s office typically lasts an hour at most, people who sweat an average amount but are tired of regularly buying and applying antiperspirant and deodorant have also been choosing it to simply dry up their armpits for good.
The destruction of working sweat glands for convenience, as opposed to combatting the unwanted effects of a medical condition, has raised questions among people concerned that the body must still function properly to maintain health. Your dermatologist can explain that the underarm areas hold only about two percent of the total number of sweat glands on the human body. If these specific glands are destroyed by laser energy, literally millions more glands remain to help regulate body temperature and remove unwanted substances.
The miraDry® treatment works on both types of sweat glands found in the human body: eccrine (which produce a clear fluid) and apocrine (which create an oily substance that can react with bacteria to cause body odor). The prospect of a dermatologist or esthetician being able to eliminate the bulk of the culprits behind wet and smelly armpits is driving the increased interest in miraDry® as a treatment for anyone, not just hyperhidrosis sufferers.
Once destroyed, these glands do not regenerate, making miraDry® a permanent sweat reduction method with immediate results.
Although the miraDry® procedure is appropriate for almost anyone, a consultation is required to review each patient’s medical history and confirm that appropriateness. Once a patient is cleared, the dermatologist or licensed medical esthetician will determine the number of necessary treatments based on a consultation review, which will, in turn, help to establish cost and a timeline.
Patients interested in the procedure should consider their current comfort levels with the amount of sweat they produce, as well as the person who would handle the treatment. While many professionals may be technically capable, dermatologist Dr. Robin Levin recommends connecting with a trained, skin-focused medical expert—ideally a licensed medical esthetician in a dermatologist’s office—to ensure that the person administering the miraDry® treatment has a thorough knowledge of the interaction between sweat glands and other features of healthy skin.
