What stands in the way of treating palmar hyperhidrosis as effectively as axillary hyperhidrosis with Botulinum Toxin Type A

Abstract

Botulinum Toxin type A (BTX-A) has revolutionized the treatment of focal hyperhidrosis (HH) in recent years and has dramatically reduced the invasive surgical techniques that have been performed in the past to control severe focal HH unresponsive to topical therapies. Whereas BTX-A injections are easily performed to control axillary HH with little or no analgesia, pain management is a must during the injection of palmar and plantar HH with BTX-A because of the intense pain generated with the 30 to 40 needle punctures needed on each hand or foot through the densely innervated skin present in those areas. For that reason, many physicians who contentedly treat axillary HH with BTX-A injections, refuse to do so for palmar and plantar HH. Although pain is the major stumbling block deterring patients and physicians from choosing this treatment option, it is not the only one. Many other factors may play a role in deciding whether or not to treat palmar and plantar HH with BTX-A injections. This article reviews these factors and presents some personal data from patients who have already been treated with BTX-A injections on the palms and soles and who came back once or more for repeat treatments when the effect of BTX-A started to fade away. "Jet Anesthesia" was the pain management method used in this group.