Can Miradry Develop Compensatory Sweating or Increasing Sweating in Others Parts of the Body ?

Compensatory sweating is an unpredictable consequence of hyperhidrosis treatments. Miradry has a low risk of this problem but there is still a finite risk. Best, Dr. Karamanoukian Los Angeles

Although miraDry is
getting a lot of attention recently, it has actually been around for a while.
It has been extensively studied and there is no cancer association. The FDA has
cleared it for safe use as well. The microwave energy only penetrates 4-5mm in
depth and heats up and destroys the sweat and odor glands. The energy does not
reach lymph nodes or deeper structures and it in non-ionizing radiation (the
safe kind, like radiowaves). I have had the procedure done myself and it has
truly been a gift. One and done for 80% of people! In the long term, much more
cost-effective than Botox which has to be repeated every 3-6 months. There is no compensatory sweating with miraDry.  Let us
know if we can help in any way.

It is very unusual to develop compensatory sweating with Miradry.

Miradry has a very high success rate and it’s been a life-changing procedure for all of our patients. After performing Miradry for more than 3 years now we haven’t had any cases with compensatory sweating. Only 4% of your body’s sweat glands are located under your arms. By destroying such a small amount of sweat gland your body won’t develop compensatory sweating. In addition, the treatment is very localized and it does not affect any other body areas.

We know that local treatments such as botox and axillary shaving do not cause compensatory sweating.  In my experience, miraDry does not cause compensatory sweating.

There are no studies showing increased compensatory sweating as has been reported with surgical sympathectomy.  I have traditionally done a surgical axillary sweat gland removal using an endoscopic shaving technique, and there is no compensatory sweating using this modality since I am destroying the sweat glands.  The same is true for MiraDry which uses microwave energy to destroy the sweat glands.

Compensatory sweating is extremely rare after a miraDry treatment. Only 2% of the sweat glands of the entire body are located in the underarms. So killing these sweat glands should have a negligible effect on the body's ability to regulate its temperature with sweating. 

In our office we have never seen any reports of compensatory sweating after a MiraDry treatment. Dr. Grant Stevens Marina Plastic
Surgery Associates Marina del Rey, CA The Institute

Only one case of secondary sweating, also known as compensatory hyperhidrosis, has been reported out of the thousands of miraDry procedures performed to date.  Given the nature of the miraDry procedure, which uses microwave technology to non-invasively eliminate sweat glands, as opposed to invasive surgical procedures that sever nerve connections, compensatory hyperhidrosis is a highly unlikely and very rare event with miraDry.

We are aware of at least 1 case reported to the company (Miramar) about compensatory sweating in a patient who had the miraDry procedure by a physician in NY City.

I have taken care of hyperhidrosis patients since 1999 in a comprehensive Center for Exessive Sweating and provide every type of treatment for hyperhidrosis. I have seen patients develop compensatory sweating with the use of Hypercare (rare, but it does happen). I have seen patients develop compensatory sweating with Botox injection in the underarms (rare, but it can happen). I have seen groin sweating in someone who was being treated with oral Robinul (rare, but it happens).

So, compensatory sweating is most well described with ETS (sympathectomy or STITCH procedure) but it can rarely happen with other hyperhidrosis procedures.

Having said that, miraDry is an excellent procedure if you are looking for definitive treatment for an annoying problem called axillary hyperhidrosis (underarm sweating) and compensatory sweating can occur but is very very unlikely to occur after the miraDry procedure.

You cannot predict who will develop compensatory sweating. If you could, the sympathectomy procedure would be a perfect procedure - but it isn't - if it were, you could predict who would get compensatory sweating and NOT OFFER the procedure to them. Unfortunately, we cannot predict who would get compensatory sweating and who will not - it is a very very small risk for patients receiving miraDRY and much higher risk if you sign up for thoracic sympathectomy.

Compensatory sweating from miradry has not been reported.  But one needs to keep in mind that we do not have five or ten year data available.  I have actually treated compensatory sweating in one patient who developed it in the armpits after surgery, successfully through the miradry procedure.  I would guess that this side effect, if it happens at all, would be extremely rare.