Elizabeth Ann Abel, MD

I received the miraDry treatment yesterday at the California Skin Institute in San Jose. Dr. Abel is not my regular dermatologist, but she signed off on the procedure and I was treated by Kathy. I think I received around 24 numbing shots for each armpit and those ranged from barely noticeable to very painful. The pain from the left armpit shots was much worse than the right armpit shots. For the majority of the treatment, I couldn't feel anything. The suction failed a few times on the right side, so hopefully that doesn't lessen the effectiveness of the treatment. The left armpit wasn't numbed as much as the right side, so we had to stop mid-treatment when I started to feel the burning sensation. My provider stopped to give me a few more numbing shots and we finished. She was very nice and encouraged me to talk through through the numbing shots, which helped distract me from the pain. Recovery for me is starting out pretty bad. I started to feel the heat and pain almost immediately after the treatment ended. I've been icing constantly and taking 2 advils every 6-8 hours because my armpits feel so beat-up and painful. I'm not sure whether the advil is lessening the pain. I slept with frozen water bottles under both armpits and woke up twice during the night due to armpit pain and needed to switch water bottles. It feels like a raw sunburn and it's hard to not trigger the pain by letting part of your armpit touch your body, or even other parts of your armpit. I currently have a lot more swelling on the left side than the right side. I also only have bruises on the left side. My provider and I didn't talk about machine levels, so I'm not sure what level the machine was set to when I was treated. I really hope this is worth it.Updated on 22 Jan 2017: In the past 48 hours, my armpit pain has improved drastically. The pain the day after the procedure was pretty bad all day. For about 24 hours after the procedure, it was painful on its own without touching other skin. I started taking 3 doses of advil and kept constantly switching out frozen water bottles. As for lumps, I have 2 large lumps under my left armpit and some ugly bruising. My right armpit may have one small lump, but it might just be inflammation. Before going to bed last night (1.5 days after the procedure), I realized I wasn't having pain independent of my armpits touching something. I didn't end up sleeping with frozen water bottles and haven't felt the need to use any today. The pain now is more annoyingly sore to the touch than sharp and burning constantly. Wearing a thick bathrobe is helping with the pain because it's cushions the bruised areas, so instead of resting a bruise against another bruise, a bruise is resting on soft cloth. I'm lucky enough to be able to recover without many responsibilities (i.e. family, school work). I've been able to wear bathrobes all day and take care of myself. Based on my procedure and experience, I definitely wouldn't recommend going straight to work the day after the procedure. By now (~48 hours post), I think I could get dressed properly and pretend to not be in pain, but would need to continue holding my armpits out from my body slightly. I'm also starting to feel phantom sweating under my armpits. My left armpit is dry to the touch, but I can't tell if my right armpit is dry or if I wiped away some minor wetness. I'm guessing (and hoping) it's also phantom sweating on the right side. Yesterday I felt like I might regret going through this procedure, because the first 24 hours after were fairly bad. I probably feel at least 70% better today than I did when I first posted.Updated on 23 Jan 2017: I haven't had any pain in my armpits today unless I touch and press on them. I was getting ready to post a positive review about how I haven't sweat at all, but I've just noticed that my left armpit smells terrible. The smell is much worse than my normal body odor. Strange.Updated on 27 Jan 2017: I think my first treatment might have been at too low of a level. I went for a walk with a t-shirt and a hoodie and both of my armpits got damp and left wet spots on my shirt. It was sunny, but only 58 degrees outside. I didn't use any deodorant and my armpits didn't smell bad, but they definitely got moist. I'm not sure it would be worth it for me to get a second treatment.Updated on 31 Jan 2017: My armpits got moist within 5 minutes of wearing a bathrobe that was too warm for the room temperature. But there wasn't any smell, so that's good. Armpit pain is almost gone, but I can still feel a little pain if I press on the area, like when scrubbing in the shower.Updated on 25 Apr 2017: My sweating is still an issue, but it has definitely improved. I can now prevent odor by using regular deodorant instead of prescription strength deodorant, but there is still sweat. I'm planning to get the second treatment done in the hope of being able to wear a shirt with sleeves without sweating.