How Painful Are Botox Injections for Underarm Hyperhidrosis?

Our office specializes in Miraday. Miradry just got FDA clearance for elimination of all hair colors under the arm. It also has clearance for the elimination of underarm sweating and odor. Much cheaper than botox and permanent.

You will receive about 20 injections with a fine-gauged needle into each armpit.  Each injection feel a bit like a mosquito bite.  There is no pain once the needle is withdrawn.You may also want to consider MiraDry, a noninvasive, in-office procedure. It destroys sweat glands using microwave technology. Patients typically have a >80% reduction with just one treatment. We pretreat the armpits with injectable lidocaine.  This is uncomfortable for a few moments.  After the procedure, when the numbing medication wears away, patients do have swelling and mild discomfort that lasts for 24 hours to a few days.

Botox has been FDA approved for Axillary hyperhidrosis since 2004.In our office, we apply a topical numbing medicine.  The procedure is quick, using a very small needle.  Most of our patients tolerate it well, and often say it is not a "big deal."  We have had good experience with Botox injections to the armpits. We have treated patients, staff, and family members. We typically use 50 units per armpit. I have had a couple of patients tell me it is the first time they wore a powder blue shirt in years. The red carpet models also like to do this before big events.                

Most patients seem to tolerate Botox injections at the underarms very well. The needle used is small and the treatment is quick, despite the number if injections delivered. A topical anesthetic cream can be used to help alleviate some of the discomfort. Sometimes a cold pack can do the trick as well. This treatment is very effective in reducing excessive sweating for 3-6 months.

For most patients, Botox injections do not hurt although you might feel slight discomfort. Your doctor should be able to provide you with a topical anesthetic prior to underarm injections if you are worried about pain or discomfort.

Botox injections use very fine guage needles so not very painful, certainly not afterward. The average costs depends on the number of units injected and the area. To minimize discomfort topical anesthetics can be applied before hand as well as ice packs.

I believe that the clinical benefits of Miradry demonstrated over the past two years make it a very good alternative to Botox for the axilla and armpits. Raffy Karamanoukian, Los Angeles

Botox under the armpits for sweating is relatively well tolerated.  You can place numbing cream beforehand and supplement this with a cold pack prior to applying it.  You can also consider some form of distraction like vibration or tapping in the vicinity of the armpits as this will help confuse the brain with additional stimulation.

Good luck.

Botox Cosmetic injections for hyperhidrosis are not painful - especially when pre-treated with an anesthetic cream.  In the video below, you can see a patient that I am injecting and her discussion of the treatment and results.

 

Good luck.

Pretreatment numbing cream for armpit injections of Botox is very helpful. Ice and vibration alongside of each injection is also distracting for added comfort.
I hope this is helpful to you.
Steve Greene MD