Of course, the people who come to MediZen about sweating rarely lead with vanity. They talk about the spare shirt in a desk drawer, the handshake they have learned to dread. Excessive sweating, known medically as hyperhidrosis, wears people down quietly. So, our doctor-led Birmingham clinic treats it properly. We match the approach to the area affected, whether the underarms, palms, scalp or soles.
Underarms, hands, scalp and feet, treated by a doctor-led team in Birmingham.
Sweat is how the body keeps its temperature in check. Then, glands across the skin release moisture, it evaporates, and you cool down. In hyperhidrosis that system fires when it has no reason to. People with the condition sweat heavily while they are cool, still and calm. This happens not only when it is hot or they are nervous. Still, no amount of willpower switches it off.
Doctors sort it into two kinds. Primary focal hyperhidrosis is the common one. It centres on specific areas, usually the underarms, palms, feet or scalp. It often runs in families. In addition, it tends to begin in childhood or the teenage years. Meanwhile, secondary hyperhidrosis is sweating brought on by something else, a medication or an underlying health condition. As a result, it usually affects the whole body rather than a few spots. Telling the two apart matters, because the second kind needs its cause found and addressed first.
Roughly one in twenty people live with some form of it, and many go years assuming nothing can be done. In practice, people often apologise for it, as though it were a habit rather than biology. Yet, it is a genuine medical problem, not a matter of hygiene or nerves. In almost every case it can be reduced dramatically. You can read the plain-English overview on the NHS hyperhidrosis page.
Whatever the weather
Patches that appear regardless of temperature, nerves or antiperspirant, including the clinical strength ones worth trying first. miraDry reduces the sweat glands for good, usually in a single treatment, and targeted injections offer a lighter option that lasts several months at a time.
The dreaded handshake
Palmar sweating touches everything from handshakes to paperwork, and it is intensely social in its impact. The palms can be treated with targeted injections that calm the glands for several months, planned carefully around comfort because the area is sensitive.
Visible at the worst moments
Facial sweating announces itself in meetings and photos, usually at the exact moment you want composure. Precise, conservative dosing across the forehead reduces it while keeping expression completely natural, which is where medical judgement earns its keep.
See your GP first
Sweating that starts suddenly, happens mostly at night or arrives with weight loss, fever or other symptoms needs your GP before any cosmetic clinic, because it can signal an underlying cause that deserves investigation. We will always say so plainly.
Working out what is driving your sweating is the first job at a consultation. That is because the cause points straight to the treatment. For most people who come to MediZen, the honest answer is that there is no obvious trigger at all.
Overactive nerve signals sit behind primary focal hyperhidrosis. The nerves that tell your sweat glands to switch on are simply too eager. As such, they fire in the underarms, palms, feet or scalp for no useful reason. However, this is not a sign of poor hygiene or of anxiety. That said, heat and stress can make an already busy system busier. Genetics play a clear part, and many patients can name a parent or a sibling with the same problem.
An underlying cause is the other possibility, and it is the one worth ruling out. Even so, sweating can be new, soak the whole body, or come on at night. That kind can point to a medication or a health condition behind it, from thyroid changes to the menopause. This is secondary hyperhidrosis, and it is a reason to see a GP before booking any procedure. Likewise, our dermatology service helps make sense of the picture where the cause is not clear. For most people, though, the sweating is primary, harmless in itself, and very treatable.
There is no single best treatment for hyperhidrosis. The right route depends on where you sweat, whether the underarms, palms, scalp or feet. It also depends on whether you want a lasting fix or a repeatable one. Finally, it depends on whether the sweating is primary or has a cause worth ruling out. As such, our doctor tailors a plan at consultation.
| Compare | miraDry Permanent underarm solution | Anti-Wrinkle Injections For hands, scalp and feet | Dermatology Assessment & prescription care |
|---|---|---|---|
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| Underarm (axillary) sweating | Palms, scalp, face and feet | Milder cases & unclear causes | |
| Energy disables the underarm sweat glands | Injections calm the overactive glands | Medical review & prescription antiperspirants | |
| Usually 1 | Every 3 to 6 months | Consultation | |
| A few days of tenderness | Minimal | None | |
| All skin tones | All skin tones | All skin tones | |
| £1,595 | £235 | £120 | |
| View miraDry | View Anti-Wrinkle Injections | View Dermatology |
As a guide, here is how we typically match each type of pigmentation to a treatment. Of course, your exact plan is always confirmed at consultation.
Plenty is worth trying before you set foot in a clinic. MediZen would always rather you start with the simple things. In practice, a strong antiperspirant helps, the kind labelled clinical or maximum strength. Apply it to dry skin at night rather than in the morning. Also, it stops more sweat than most people expect. Breathable natural fabrics and sweat shields sewn into shirts help too. In addition, a switch to moisture-wicking socks takes the edge off day to day. For many, this is enough to live comfortably.
Home care runs out of road with heavier sweating. That means sweating heavy enough to soak through clothes, drip from the hands or force several changes a day. Over-the-counter products rarely touch that. Even the prescription-strength antiperspirants and iontophoresis a GP might suggest do not suit everyone or every area. One honest caveat belongs here. Some sweating is sudden, one-sided, worse at night, or paired with weight loss or a racing heart. So, that is a job for your GP first, not a cosmetic clinic. For stubborn, well-behaved focal sweating, the in-clinic options change things far more decisively. In turn, these range from miraDry for the underarms to targeted injections elsewhere.
At MediZen we truly believe that the best treatments come down to the best practitioners partnered with the best products. We have selected a dedicated team of professionals who are experts in their fields. In turn, they deliver the best treatments in a safe and comfortable environment. Our team has been extensively trained in every treatment they perform.
Still weighing up your options for hyperhidrosis treatment in Birmingham? These are the questions our patients ask most, from underarm sweating and sweaty hands to what treatment really costs. If yours is not here, bring it to a consultation, where we read the problem properly and talk you through the honest choices.
It depends entirely on where you sweat. For the underarms, miraDry gives a lasting reduction in a single treatment. For the palms, scalp and feet, prescription muscle-relaxing injections given by our doctor calm the overactive glands for months at a time. We match the approach to the area at your consultation rather than before it.
miraDry uses controlled energy to disable the sweat glands in the underarms, and because those glands do not grow back, the reduction is lasting. Most people need only one treatment. It is the option we reach for when someone wants to stop treating the same problem year after year. The full detail sits on our miraDry page.
Yes, and they work well. A doctor places small prescription injections into the affected area, which quietly switch off the nerve signal that tells the sweat glands to fire. Sweating in the treated zone drops sharply within a week or so, and it suits sweaty palms, foreheads, scalps and feet, areas miraDry cannot treat. These are doctor-led at MediZen, carried out by Dr David Eccleston. See our injections page.
Palmar sweating, the medical name for very sweaty hands, responds best to targeted injections that settle the glands for months at a time. miraDry is designed for the underarms only, so it is not the tool here. Prescription-strength antiperspirants and iontophoresis are worth trying first, and we will tell you honestly whether they are likely to be enough.
Yes. Craniofacial sweating, meaning the scalp, forehead and face, is one of the most distressing forms and one of the most treatable. Carefully placed injections reduce it markedly, and the effect lasts a few months before a top-up. Our doctor maps the area at consultation so the result looks and feels natural.
Plantar sweating responds to the same injectable approach used for the hands, calming the glands on the soles for several months. It is fiddlier to treat than the underarms, so a consultation helps us set honest expectations about comfort and results before you commit.
For the underarms, yes. miraDry permanently reduces the sweat glands in that area, usually in one session. For other areas such as the hands and scalp, treatment is not permanent but is easily repeated, with injections topped up every three to six months.
miraDry starts from £1,595 for a lasting underarm result, injectable treatments from £235, and a dermatology consultation from £120. The right figure depends on the area and the plan, which we confirm once we have seen you. Our price list carries the detail.
For some people with sweaty hands or feet it does, passing a mild current through water to reduce sweating over a course of sessions. It takes commitment and does not suit everyone, and it is not an underarm solution. Where it is not enough, injections or miraDry usually are. A consultation is the quickest way to know which route fits.
If your sweating is focal, meaning it centres on the underarms, hands, scalp or feet, you can come straight to us. If it is new, affects your whole body, wakes you at night or comes with other symptoms, please see your GP first so any underlying cause can be checked. That kind of generalised sweating is called secondary hyperhidrosis, and the cause matters more than the symptom.
In experienced hands, yes. miraDry is cleared for long-term underarm sweat reduction, and injectable treatment for sweating is well established and doctor-led at MediZen, carried out by Dr David Eccleston. Every plan begins with a consultation. The British Association of Dermatologists has further background on the condition.
Usually three to six months, depending on the area and the individual, after which a straightforward top-up restores the effect. Many people settle into a rhythm of two or three treatments a year and rarely think about their sweating in between.
The short answer is that it depends on where you sweat and whether you want a lasting fix or a lighter, repeatable one. Underarms lean towards miraDry, hands, scalp and feet towards injections, and unclear or whole-body sweating towards a dermatology assessment first. The comparison table above lays the options side by side.
Yes. MediZen is in Mere Green, Sutton Coldfield, a short drive from central Birmingham, and we look after patients from across the city and the wider Midlands for underarm, palm, scalp and facial sweating.
Yes, always. The consultation is where we identify the type of sweating you have, rule out anything that belongs with your GP, and match you to the treatment most likely to help. It is also where you get an honest view of what each option can realistically do for you.
As one of the UK’s leading medical aesthetic clinical trial and training centres, and one of only a handful of cosmetic clinics registered with the Government’s Care Quality Commission, you can be confident that our focus is your needs and that quality, training, safety and pain management are paramount in everything that we offer.
We have been using injectables here at MediZen for over 20 years. MediZen’s clinical director, Dr David Eccleston, was one of the first doctors in the UK to offer injectables and is therefore extremely experienced in the use of all injectable treatments, leading to him being named by Tatler as the ‘Man in the Midlands for Injectables’.
All of our injectors have been trained personally by Dr Eccleston, so no matter who you see, you can rest assured they have the skills and knowledge required to give you subtle, natural-looking results in the safest of environments.
Tell us what you’d like to achieve. MediZen will be in touch within one working day to arrange your consultation.
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