miraDry: Stories

I scheduled my appointment for next Tuesday Jan. 22nd to get my first installment of miraDry done. I am excited but a little worried about the long term effects these high "microwave" energies have on the body but would like even a 50% reduction of underarm sweating. The people who wrote that people who aren't suffering with this don't understand are right. On the rational level, it seems to be not that big of a deal but when you are in a business place and can't even raise your arm for fear that your shirt is wet or that you smell because of it is totally embarassing and ones self esteem takes a major hit. I will update when done. I hope I don't swell up horirbly from the shots.

Today is the day I go in for my first installment of miraDry at 1:30 p.m. I am excited, not really nervous anymore just anxious to get it over with and hopefully live with a lot less sweating. I'll write you all in the next couple of days and take some pictures to let you know how it went/is going.

I just had the first treatment of miraDry done yesterday. I got 7-1/2 shot of lidocane with epi and 7-1/2 shots of lidocane with NO epi in my right armpit (total of 15 shots in the right side) and then all 15 lidocane shots with NO epinephrine in the left armpit because I am very sensitive to epi and my legs and arms started jumping uncontrollably. It was no biggie though. I started my evaluation at 1:30 p.m. and I was finished with everything by 4:10 pm. I think the procedure was fairly new to the office I went to, although they had done several 1st rounders (meaning, because there are 2 "rounds" to miradry they have only been doing it enough to have treated people in their first round. So let's say for the past 3-4 months).

Anyways the staff was very pleasant and I had a good experience. You aren't supposed to shave or wear deodorant the day of the procedure which they told me in advance. They did my procedure on a level 1 for the first round they said because all the studies published showed about 85-90% efficacy on that level and they didn't want to expose their patients to any more than they needed. She said I could go at a higher level if I wanted but they don't recommend it the first time. She assured me that if I wanted to bump it up the second time that they would do that. She also mentioned that most of the patients she's talked to are generally doing well after the first round in regards to sweating but they insist on the second round just to make sure they got it all.

First, they place this paper over your armpit that has a tattoo-like grid on the back of it that comes off on your armpit so they know where to inject you with lidocane and what areas they need to treat with the miradry system. Then they get the miradry handheld piece out and place it over your armpit and before you know it they are done. I do want to mention that during the procedure the side WITHOUT the epinephrine (my left side) was considerably more painful than the side WITH the epi. I didn't feel a thing on the side WITH the epi. The side without the epi felt extremely uncomfortable in some target areas and I almost had her stop but I just wanted to get it over with so I endured ;). The miradry system goes through a process of heating first for a cycle or two and then cooling each area. I want to say she moved the wand around to approximately 20-25 different areas per armpit during the procedure. The pain I felt in my left armpit felt like a hot poker touching a very concentrated (small) area of the armpit. It goes away soon enough though. As soon as I was done they gave me ice packs for my armpits and told me to keep them on there for a little bit and then switch with 20 minutes on and 20 minutes off through the next couple of days to help with pain and swelling. They also told me to take ibuprofen every 12 hours as needed.

Right after I got done I felt like my armpits were sunburned (best way to describe it). That pain mostly subsided within a couple hours and I hadn't really swollen too badly until about 5-6 hours later. I posted pictures of before the procedure, 4 hours after and then the next morning (today) at around 7 a.m. I feel like softballs are under my armpits. It's not really too painful but it does feel odd to put my arms down to the side. I've been icing them while at work today on and off. I HIGHLY recommend wearing something loose fitting in the arms for the next couple days. Although I can bend and reach just fine, it's harder to get the ice packs under your arms in a tight fitting shirt and you don't want the material to rub on the area either. One other thing to mention is that the side without epi is less swollen than the side with epi.

I don't really have anything more to say right now about this. I am excited and hopeful it works. I would be satisfied with about 60-70% reduction in sweating even. If anyone has any questions please feel free to write me.

I should mention that, after looking at all the other people's pictures, it appears that I bruise worse than others. I know that my armpits look scary in the pictures but I must say that the pain is pretty minimal. Don't let my pictures scare you away from doing it. :)

I am updating at 1-1/2 days post procedure to say that I actually have a tiny bit of "moistness" under both of my armpits today. I hope this isn't indicative of how things will go for the next 3 months. Has anyone else experienced this very TINY bit of moistness afterwards?

Another update at almost a week post procedure. All moisture is almost completely gone now (YAYYY!!!). I did notice some b.o. around days 3-4 which was annoying because you aren't supposed to wear deodorant for the first couple of days. It has since gone away though and I don't notice anything. My arms look fairly normal now (unswollen) but I can feel a bit of swelling still and they are a little bit tender. All in all, I'm very happy right now. :)

It's almost a month out now and my sweating is at about 50-60% reduction which is great but I am hoping for more after the last round of treatment. I've noticed a small marble sized hard lump under my right pit that wasn't there originally (so it must have grown over the last couple of weeks). Has anyone else experienced this? Should I be concerned and see a doctor about it? Other than that I'm fairly happy with the procedure. The cost is outrageous (costed more than my lasik eye surgery) but end result has helped me to be more confident.

It been over a month post procedure. The lumps I mentioned in my last update have now gone away (thankfully) and my pits are starting to look normal again. My hair still grows under them (I know some of you mentioned your hair stopped or lessened growing). Also, the sweating is at about 50% decreased now, albeit better than before. The next time I go I'm going to ask for a level 4 or 5 and also ask what will happen if I'm still sweating after the last procedure. I'm changing my review to state "not sure" if the proecure was worth it yet. It did cost $3,000 and I'd really like to get up to at least 70% sweat reduction. I have no numbness or tingling in my arms (as others have posted).

Just updating after the 2 month mark. Sweating reduction is still at about 50%. I notice my underarms don't sweat much when I exercise but coffee makes them really sweaty (go figure!). I have about 20 some days before my second (and hopefully last) procedure. I am sticking with asking for a level 4 this time. I want to make sure I use my money as best as possible. All the lumps are gone but I notice 3 tiny very small blemish-like marks under my right pit. The are only very slightly raised but don't seem to be going away. I'm not sure what they are but hopefully when I go back in they can tell me. I'd say a procedure like this should cost half as much money as it does and then it would no question, without a doubt be worth it. Just my two cents at this point. Will update in another month.

I just had my second session done last Tuesday so it's been a week now and at this point I can say that I'm completely satisfied. I originally went in telling the nurse that I wanted to do a level 4 or 5 because I seen all of the reviews on here but she told me that upping the level doesn't necessarily more effective. She said that the higher levels are the amount of time that the microwave hand piece is on each area and also that the higher the level the more body tissue you have to get through (ie: bigger men and people who have higher body fats %'s). She said that all of the MiraDry studies were conducted first on a level 1 (first session) and then on a level 3 on the follow up. So, she convinced me to do the level 3. I'm glad I listened to her. At this point I would say that I have 95% reduction in sweating. I know that number will probably lessen as more time goes by (as it did in the first go-around) but as long as it doesn't go below 80% then I'd be extremely happy. I haven't broken a sweat since having the procedure. I did swell up A LOT more this time but had less bruising and less pain during the actual procedure (which is great). I will continue to update a month or two down the road and that should fully complete my review. I cannot believe how happy I am about having this procedure done. It has helped me gain so much confidence and made me happy that I'm not ruining shirts anymore. As of now all the swelling has gone down and I have some bumpy looking areas that should subside. My hair still grows in my pits but seems to be growing less fast.