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POSTED UNDER MiraDry REVIEWS

Wonderful Result (Now 48 Hours Out) but Slight Concern with Internal Bleeding (See Photo) - Japan

ORIGINAL POST

After reading all the great reviews for miraDry on...

jnorman1998January 7, 2013
WORTH IT$3,500

After reading all the great reviews for miraDry on this website, I decided to go for it myself. I have dealt with the embarrassment of excessive underarm sweating for as long as I can remember and have even tried the botox treatment once a few years ago. (Although the botox worked very well, it only lasted for 6 months and I didn't want to have to keep paying for it again and again.)

It has been 48 hours now since the treatment, and all I can say is "wow"! I just got back from a workplace New Year's event where I wore and suit and tie. Up until now my dress shirt would get completely soaked, but this time I barely sweated at all. Such a great feeling! I am looking forward to standing in front of the classroom (I am a university teacher) and not having to worry about how my dress shirts are always pitted. The fact that miraDry supposedly works as well as botox but is a permanent solution is such a plus! What a great advance in modern medicine!

The doctor and nurses warned me in advance, as well as after the procedure itself, of all the possible aftereffects. I think I have been lucky to have almost no pain and just a tiny bit of discomfort. My only concern has been the somewhat large amount of internal bleeding (see photo). It is not painful at all, but looks bad I admit. I just wanted to let people out there know that this does happen and not to be worried about it because I am sure that it will go away within 2-3 weeks. If anyone has had a similar experience, I would appreciate a comment below.

Anyway, to summarize... I highly recommend miraDry to those who are concerned about overly sweating. It has been available in Japan (where I now live) since last summer. Just be sure to check whether the cost involved covers one or two treatments. Mine unfortunately was only for one (with a 2nd treatment available at half cost), but I have a feeling that one is all I will need (fingers crossed!).

I will continue to make updates on this post at the 1-week and 1-month marks (which coincide with my doctor check-up visits).
 

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Kyoritsu biyou sekei gekka

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They are the only clinic anywhere near where I live that provides the miraDry procedure (as far as I know).

Replies (0)

UPDATED FROM jnorman1998

I am now at the 10-day mark after the miraDry...

jnorman1998January 14, 2013
I am now at the 10-day mark after the miraDry procedure and I can say that I am still quite happy with the result. I went in for a 1-week check-up a few days ago and talked with the directly with the doctor who performed the procedure about my concern with pain in my right armpit. (Basically I feel quite a bit of pain when I try to put my arms up completely straight.) He said it is totally normally to have swelling (sometimes with more swelling on one side than the other) and that I should continue to use painkillers when necessary and to know that it should go away by the 1-month mark. I took him at his word and look forward to feeling better in the weeks ahead.

Replies (10)

Megan P
January 18, 2013

Oh my gosh, the bruising/internal bleeding is shocking looking! Yours are the first pictures I have seen of that. Have you seen it or heard of it elsewhere?? I would encourage you to post a question in the Q&A section to get the thoughts of some of the board certified doctors that volunteer on here. Maybe its normal, but it might be nice to hear that to be sure.

Please continue to update us. I'll be hoping the swelling and the bruising continue to subside for you.

jnorman1998
January 18, 2013
Hi Megan. Thanks for your comment. I was starting to wonder if anyone had seen my post(s) at all! ;-) About the internal bleeding, the doctor said it (without me even asking about it) was from the anesthesia injections. It has been almost 2 weeks now and it has dissipated a lot, although still quite visible. I am sure it will be gone by the 1-month mark. I just wanted to post the picture to let people know that it does happen. The reason I didn't freak out too much about it was because I remember a similar (although not quite as bad) thing happened when I got a botox injection for my excess sweating a few years back. (Of course then it was only a few pricks versus a ton of pricks for the anesthesia this time around.)
Megan P
January 18, 2013

Oh wow, that is so interesting that the same thing happened with Botox for you. I wonder if its just the way your body reacts to injections(??). Regardless, I'm so glad it is getting better for you. :) Out of curiosity, did you go to the same person for your Botox and your Miradry? 

jnorman1998
January 19, 2013
Yes Megan, it was the same place here locally. I definitely think the internal bleeding must be the way my body reacts to injections because although it was the same location, it was a different doctor who did the botox. Thank God I don't have to have these injections on a regular basis, huh! ;-)
Megan P
January 19, 2013

Seriously! I can't believe you aren't more upset by it - which is great, don't get me wrong. Your acceptance is pretty remarkable.

Have you ever had a reaction like this to any other kind of injection? Sorry, I don't meant to pick at it, but those are some serious bruises and I would hate to see you subjected to them again if its a matter of injection technique.

jnorman1998
January 19, 2013
Well, I guess the reason it doesn't bother me much is that: 1) there is literally no pain (unlike a regular bruise), and 2) it went away after about a week with the botox and in this case will be completely gone within a month. Just have to wait it out I figure. I wondered at first if it was a bad injection technique, but there's not really a way to know and it is a hard subject to bring up with the doctor. I am honestly okay with it, although I was worried for the first few days. It is interesting that I haven't had that reaction to any other injection, such as for a flu shot, or when a nurse takes blood, etc. But I think a big difference is that with botox or especially the anesthesia for the miraDry procedure, the doctor is injecting you in many different places. Based on my weight, the doctor injected a total of 5 vials of anesthesia into me, and he must have injected me in about 5-7 places for each vial. So I guess my body didn't like all that poking?! ;-)
City_girl
January 24, 2013
Did you swell pretty bad afterwards? Are you seeing impovement?
jnorman1998
January 25, 2013
Hi City_girl! The swelling was not bad at all on my left side (almost non-existent now after 3 weeks), but my right side had some pretty bad swelling to the point where I couldn't raise my hands up directly above me. I don't think the swelling I have had is much worse than what the normal patient experiences, so I am taking it in stride. My doctor said such swelling takes 1-3 months to disappear fully and I think he's exactly right!
babsinmichigan
January 25, 2013
You will definitely have bruising and swelling for up to a month. Although your pictures looked a little bit worse than mine, I think it was still pretty normal (even though it does look shocking!). It is from the injections. I want to say I had close to 50 injections in each armpit. I had one procedure done in July of last year and the second procedure done in October. While the results have been quite substantial, the sweating has not gone away 100% for me, but odor is definitely gone, which is a HUGE bonus!! I use just a swipe or two of Tom's Deodorant every day now and that is all I need compared to all of the clinical strength deodorant I used to feel like I had to cake on my armpits to mask any type of odor (it never helped the sweating). Overall I have been pleased, but very surprised that where I had it done has never followed up to see how I have been doing after the procedure.
jnorman1998
January 25, 2013
Hi babsinmichigan and thanks for your comments! I have also noticed a major improvement in body odor (I always had thought that the odor was just caused by the heavy sweating) and that is definitely a bonus as you pointed out. The bruising from the anesthesia injections has pretty much all disappeared now at the 3-week point, so I am really happy about that. My sweating has gone down by about 70-80% after this 1st treatment, which is what is typical according to the research studies that have been done. Here in Japan you only pay for one treatment at a time, so I am debating whether to get a 2nd one done. I think I will wait and see how I do here in the hot&humid summer months before I decide. Was the 2nd treatment any easier for you than the 1st? I assume the side effects are the same, but perhaps easier to deal with since you know what toe expect the 2nd time around? As for the doctor not following-up with you after your treatments, that is surprising indeed. You never went back in for 1-week or 1-month checkups? (That's what my doctor does.) Before the procedure, they did a "sweat test" that shows which areas sweat the most and by how much. Then at the 1-month point, they do the same test and compare it to the first one to show the patient the improvement. I'm so looking forward to that!
UPDATED FROM jnorman1998

1-month update! --> Went in for my 1-month checkup...

jnorman1998February 8, 2013
1-month update! --> Went in for my 1-month checkup a few days ago. Almost all visual signs of the procedure, including the bumpiness and internal bleeding, are gone. Barely notice anything at all these days, except that my right side has been slower in healing than my left. But my doctor assured me that as the old saying goes, "time is the best medicine".

Also, at the one-month mark, my doctor always does an "iodine test" (not sure if this is even done in the U.S. and if so the correct name for it) and compares the results with the one that was conducted before the procedure was carried out. I was amazed to see the results. I definitely am sweating a lot less now than before the procedure and have the proof! (Of course I notice a big difference, but it's always cool to see actual medical proof of it!)

Overall I am very pleased with the results, and will wait to consider a second go at it until after I experience the hot and humid Japanese summer first.

Replies (5)

knowledge2013
March 9, 2013
Has the internal bleeding/bruising gone away completely now?
jnorman1998
March 11, 2013
Yep, it sure has. And I am feeling great overall. The sweating has returned a little bit, but not nearly as much as before, so it's great! I think they tell you to expect anywhere from a 60-90% reduction, and in my case it was about 75% I think. I am pondering getting a 2nd follow-up procedure done now, which is not free here in Japan like it is in most places in the U.S. But I want to see how I survive the hot and humid summer first.
forwill
June 23, 2016
Did your sweating come back?
thad1983
September 25, 2016
Hi there,
Thank you so much for sharing your experience with miraDry! Like you, I also live in Japan (Kobe) but I'd ideally like to get the treatment done by an English speaking doctor, as my Japanese is fairly limited. I hope you don't mind me asking but where did you get your treatment, how much did it cost, and would you recommend the doctor you visited?

Also, now that a few years have past since you got your treatment, how effective would you say the procedure has been long-term?

Hope to hear back from you.

:-)
thad1983
September 25, 2016
Sorry, but I didn't realize that the answers to some of my questions were already provided on this page - newbie error!

I would however still like to know whether the procedure has been effective long-term and whether you required a second treatment.

Thanks
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