My Detailed MiraDry Experience - Eden Prairie, MN

I made the decision - after a year of debating - to get a third treatment (it's been 4.5 years since my second).

How did I get to this point?

My results after the second treatment were great after a few years. Since that time I have taken on more stressful roles in my career and everyone knows stress sweat. Under normal circumstances I wouldn't really sweat - if I did, it was manageable and didn't bother me or draw any attention. However, I started noticing stress-sweat more often at work, which wasn't NEARLY as bad as it was before all of this, but it was noticeable and made me self-conscious. (It was worse on one side compared to the other.)

About a year ago I went back to Envy Skin Clinic and they did a complimentary sweat test. Sure enough - spots of dark blue sweat glands. I was eligible for another treatment (for only $800 this time). I thought about it. For a year. My choices were: Go for the third treatment, deal with it, or quit my stressful job.

I got a third MiraDry treatment 2 days ago.

The process was identical to my second treatment (the process didn't change between then and now). I even had the same awesome MiraDry specialist! The entire procedure from start to finish was ~90 minutes (On each side: ~10 min for 6 numbing injections, ~15 min for larger saline injections, ~15 min for procedure, with chit-chat mixed in). The Epinephrine in the lidocaine injections affected me this time and I was shaky during the procedure, but that's normal. I was also anxious since it's been a while and I have almost no pain tolerance!

When I left around 2 pm I iced as instructed, and it wasn't until ~6 pm that the lidocaine wore off and the familiar razor-burn feeling began. It got increasingly more painful and increased in pressure until I went to bed, but did not keep me up at night.

The next morning there was almost no pain, but I was much more swollen. This is the point I had the most swelling (I couldn't put my arms all the way down for the majority of the day). The same night I barely even noticed my armpits when I went to bed (swelling had gone way down and no pain).

The second morning there was almost no swelling, but still a couple of small bruises.

Overall the process was relatively pain-free (it did have SOME pain, but short-lived) and the swelling was minimal. In fact, we have family photos tomorrow and I have confidently chosen to wear a sleeveless top - only 3 days after the procedure!

Time will tell whether or not the stress-sweating is better controlled, but considering how much improvement I had since before all of this, I am confident it will be a success!

Well I totally dropped the ball on providing an update a few weeks after my second procedure... sorry about that!

It has been a little over a year since my second treatment. Let me just say (and I think this will speak volumes) that I HAVE BEEN USING THE EXACT SAME BOTTLE OF <> DEODORANT SINCE MY SECOND PROCEDURE. That's right. I haven't had to buy deodorant in OVER A YEAR.

I know you're probably thinking - why are you even using deodorant after a full MiraDry treatment? Because let's face it - people like us who have struggled with sweating forever will always see deodorant as a kind of "security blanket". I only use one or two swipes under each arm on days I go into work or have an outing. On days I am staying home all day I don't use deodorant at all.

AND I DON'T SWEAT OR SMELL.

I will say in very nerve-wracking circumstances or during a sweaty workout, I DO sweat a small amount. But no where near what I used to. And frankly, I am quite alright with that.

My overall conclusion about my MiraDry experience is that it was worth it. I can wear whatever clothes I want. My white shirts are not stained yellow in the arm pits. I don't get deodorant stains all over my shirts. I can lift my arms above my head without even a worry. It's a miracle.

2nd treatment

The quick and dirty:

There was a procedural update since a year ago when I had my first treatment (the saline “pillows”). From the moment I walked in the door to the moment I left, it took 1 hour and 10 minutes. The updated procedure was very easy and much faster. The numbing injections were still the worst part, but WAY better than the first time since I knew what to expect – plus there were only 6 shots instead of the 30-40 last time. Then once my underarms were numb there were 5 or so saline injections, then 20 or so rounds of the miraDry for each arm.

Here is a very detailed play-by-play of my entire 2nd treatment experience. Extra details can be found in my first treatment report:

My background:

See details from the first treatment to get all the details, but a major update since last time is I had a baby girl a couple of months ago! I verified with her pediatrician about breastfeeding following this procedure and she said that there should be no issues. I decided to play it safe anyway and pump and dump once or twice before feeding my baby (but I probably didn’t need to).

My Second Appointment:

My second treatment was at 2 pm. I wanted to make sure I did this round as late as possible during the day since last time I was in so much pain the entire rest of the day. 2pm was the latest I could do. I took a few Ibuprofen pills beforehand and wore a tank top, as I was told to do. I had to update paperwork from last time (complications, the treatment, and post care) and then was taken to the same room as last time. I was MUCH less nervous this time since I knew what to expect, but I was still a little bit.
Next, I rested my arm over my head so she could perform the sweat test. One arm didn’t show any sweat, but the other had a fair amount (I was still sweating a little bit since my first procedure, but nowhere near as bad as before my first treatment!) Then she cleaned it up and applied the template.
Then the numbing injections began. This consisted of only 6 injections around the perimeter of my armpit. They were only mildly painful – a couple of them I didn’t even feel. I did not get shaky (from the epinephrine) at all this time. Once she was done with the first arm, she repeated the sweat test, template, and injections on the other armpit.
After a few minutes to let the numbing kick in, she started the saline “pillows”. She used a much larger needle to inject a saline solution that contained more lidocaine and epinephrine under the top layer of skin. There were probably 4-5 injections with this solution. This made my armpits look very swollen and squishy like a waterbed. I did not feel these injections at all since I was already numb from the first round of numbing injections. The reason these “pillows” are done is to separate the layer of skin containing the sweat glands from the layer that contains the superficial layer of nerves. Supposedly this speeds up the recovery process, doesn’t damage the nerves, and doesn’t keep your arm pits numb for as long (I think I finally had full feeling back after a MONTH the first time!). We will see if that’s true. Once this step was done she started the MiraDry procedure which was about 20 sucks on each armpit (depending on the size). A couple times I could feel some heat and once it was painful enough that I had her stop to give me another injection (in the exact same spot as the first time – weird!). After she was done with the first armpit she gave me an ice pack to hold under my arm while she did the second one (saline pillows and MiraDry procedure).

It was 3:10pm when I walked out the door. The way the procedure was done this time was WAY faster than the first time!
The entire rest of the day I kept ice packs and frozen water bottles under my arms and avoided moving a whole lot. I had zero pain until about 9pm when I started getting ready for bed and I could start to feel a little bit of razor burn pain. (Nowhere near what I felt the first time!!) I set my alarms to every 6 hours throughout the night so I could take more pain meds. I was able to fall asleep without any sleep aids like I needed last time. When I woke up throughout the night I had some pain and some swelling (probably a 2 out of 10) which was uncomfortable but very manageable. I took my pills and feel right back to sleep. I did ice for about 15 minutes twice during the night, but that was all.
The next day:
When I woke up the pain was less. I had no razor burn-type pain, just soreness. The amount of swelling I had was VERY minimal – almost nothing at all! It does hurt slightly when I put my arms all the way down, but that’s it. I iced a little bit throughout the day. The recovery the second time around is MUCH better!!! I will update in a few weeks (if I remember) about how the sweating is.