Doctors: New Laser Treatment May Help Cure Excessive Sweating

NEW YORK (WLNY) –  Summer means hot and humid weather, and for many, it also means sweating more than usual.

A new laser treatment, Precision-TX, has doctors hoping they have an alternative for when other products fail to protect from perspiration, CBS 2's Katie McGee reported.

Alyssa Franzo has dealt with excessive sweat under her arms, a condition called hyperhidrosis, for at least twenty years.

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"I tried every deodorant to mankind," Franzo said. "You know, the brand new ones that come out, the crystals that come out, the prescription ones."

When Franzo heard of a clinical trial with Precision-TX, a laser used to eliminate excessive sweating, she knew she had to try it. The laser treatment is longer lasting than botox treatments for sweating and less painful than previous microwave techniques.

"Before we would apply it over the skin, now we can go right under the skin where the glands are, and really inactivate them and reduce the sweating," said Dr. Bruce Katz of the Juva Skin and Laser Center.

After some local anesthesia, a tiny incision is made under the arm and a thin laser fiber is slid under the skin where it is passed back and forth beneath the skin's surface. The light can be seen underneath the skin and the underarm incision is so small it doesn't even need a stitch.

The laser fiber is where the magic happens. It directs the laser energy sideways, which allows Dr. Katz to target the sweat glands under the skin directly without having to burn through the skin. The treatment boasts a quick recovery time.

In fact, Franzo said she went out with friends the same night she had her procedure done.

"I was out already that day and went out with friends that night and came back to work on Monday," said Franzo, who was also quite pleased with the results.

"This FDA trial that we participated in actually showed about 80 percent of our patients normalizing the amount of sweat," said Katz.

The procedure usually costs between $2,500- $3,000.

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