Treatment of underarm odor in puberty

My daughter is 14 years old. For nearly 2 years now, since puberty, she has had bad armpit odor and sweats a lot in the armpit area. I have given her many folk remedies but they have not helped. I have heard an advertisement about Botox injections to treat armpit odor for about 1 million VND that will help cure armpit odor completely. I hope the doctor can advise.

Tran Thi Van ( Hai Phong )

Doctor Nguyen Dinh Quan, Deputy Head of the Department of Plastic Surgery and Rehabilitation (Central Dermatology Hospital), answered:

Underarm sweating and smelly sweat are not uncommon problems. However, some people have this condition to a severe level, which can affect their psychology, communication and daily life.

There are many methods to treat underarm odor.

In young children, the eccrine sweat glands are often more active, but when entering puberty or when there are abnormal changes in the body, sweat appears from the oil sweat glands.

Although underarm odor is difficult to completely treat, this disease can be significantly improved if the right method is used. That is, it is necessary to regularly clean the body, use products to dry the armpits, use mineral salts to neutralize sweat, limit bacterial decomposition, help limit odor; use deodorant products, sprays to prevent odor...

In addition, there can be medical intervention to treat hyperhidrosis including underarm odor such as: Botox injection or using high-tech machines to burn or surgery. Depending on the severity of the disease and age, the doctor will advise the appropriate treatment method.

Currently, botox injections to treat underarm odor are widely prescribed for many subjects including children, while machine methods are only performed on subjects from 18 years old. With botox injections, doctors use a protein derived from Botulinum toxin with the effect of limiting and paralyzing the activity of some small muscle areas under the armpit. With this method, sweat glands will be deactivated and underarm sweating will be limited, bacteria will not have a "territory" to operate, thereby gradually controlling underarm sweating.

Doctor shares a case of complications in puberty due to improper treatment of underarm odor

This procedure takes 20-30 minutes after local anesthesia. The effect helps reduce sweating for 6-9 months. Some studies also show that after about 3-4 repetitions of this procedure, the effect can last for many years. In addition to treating underarm odor, botox injections also have the effect of treating hyperhidrosis of the soles of the feet, palms, reducing sweating in the face (forehead, nose), chest, back, etc.

Currently, the demand for treatment to reduce hyperhidrosis is quite high, so many spas and beauty establishments have widely advertised underarm sweat gland treatment as "one-time cure", "guaranteed permanent cure", or "complete treatment of underarm odor at a cheap price". Some places only offer a cost of 600,000 VND to 1 million VND/course. This is an "unimaginable" price because in hospitals, the treatment of underarm hyperhidrosis costs from 8-10 million VND, even tens of millions of VND depending on the application of medicine, use of high-tech machines or injections...

Botox injections to treat underarm odor are also contraindicated in some cases, so you should take your child to a specialized medical facility for examination and treatment.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/suc-khoe/chua-tri-hoi-nach-o-tuoi-day-thi-20230904155148677.htm