Most antiperspirants are not strong enough to control excessive sweating, also known as hyperhidrosis. The best product to control excessive sweating, though, is a product that combines aluminum chloride with ethyl alcohol known as Drysol, which is available only by prescription. Drysol can be irritating and can stain clothing. So, it should be applied at bedtime to dry skin and then washed off the next morning. Regular deodorant should not be used afterwards. Repeat nightly until you control excessive sweating.
If Drysol does not work after a week or two, cover the affected with plastic
wrap overnight to better control excessive sweating. Once you control excessive
sweating, use Drysol once or twice a week. Use regular deodorant on the
other days. Drysol is less effective on thicker skin like palms and soles.
But you can control excessive sweating in these areas in other ways.
Alternative treatments to control excessive sweating include Botox. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Botox in July, 2004 originally
to control excessive sweating near the underarms. This prescription-only
medication is injected into the affected areas and should be used after
your physician has ruled out other potential causes for excessive sweating.
Botox can control excessive sweating for six to eight months. Unfortunately,
this procedure is expensive and can cause temporary handgrip weakness.
Oral Robinul pills are a safe and effective method to control excessive sweating as well, but it does have mild side effects like slight tingling sensations in the treated area. Robinul is injected directly into the skin with a Drionic electrophoretic machine, which can be purchased for home use for about $125. This method can control excessive sweating by plugging up sweat pores of hands, armpits or feet. It should be used about a half hour every night. Control of excessive sweating lasts for about four to six weeks.
A surgical procedure known as endoscopic transthoracic sympathectomy can also control excessive sweating permanently. An experienced surgeon must perform this procedure. Side effects may include minimal increased sweating in other body parts.
Some liposuction surgeons scrape out sweat glands from the armpits, which
also serves as another method to control excessive sweating. This is a severe
treatment to control excessive sweating and should be discussed in detail
before considered.