3. Plantar (Feet) Hyperhidrosis

Foot sweating or as it's known in the medical literature as plantar hyperhidrosis, is also a part of the excessive sweating syndrome. It does not have the same social impact on the patient as sweating of the hands but can be very bothersome to some. There is no specific treatment for foot sweating but many of the patients (about 50%) will show improvement after surgery, some surgeons claim a higher rate of success. When foot sweating is presented alone one can use antiperspirants, iontophoresis and good foot hygiene (including changing footwear regularly, use shoe and stocking materials that "breathe") in order to alleviate some of the symptoms. Lumbar smypathectomy as a surgical option is not usually offered as a treatment.

Sweaty feet as the sole presentation of hyperhidrosis appears in less than 5% of patients. The majority of the patients will also have sweaty hands and this is the reason why it can be an added benefit when successful surgery for palmar hyperhidrosis is achieved.

Botox can produce good results but the number of injections required to treat the feet is high, the procedure is more painful than for the hands and again only lasts six to twelve months.

Treatment with an effective antiperspirant and an Iontophoresis machine does produce reliable results with little inconvenience and seems to handle the problem for most HH sufferers.

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