What is hand sweating? How is it treated?

  Hand sweating is a fairly common form of functional abnormal localized sweating of unknown origin.  The sweat glands are controlled by the sympathetic nerves, and hand sweating is caused by unexplained sympathetic overstimulation, such as tension, excitement, stress, or abnormal increases in palm sweating due to summer heat.  There are two types of treatment for hand sweating: medical and surgical. The sympathetic nervous system suppressing drugs used in internal medicine often have side effects such as dry mouth or gastrointestinal disorders, making people afraid to take them for a long time. Topically applied medications are not very convenient because they are limited in duration and need to be reapplied from time to time. Because of the limited nature of medical treatment, surgical treatment has become the trend.  The sympathetic nerves that control the sweat glands in the hands are located in the third and fourth vertebrae of the thoracic spine, which are about the line of the nipples and a little higher on the sides of the back vertebrae.  Traditionally, the surgery is performed by cutting through the center of the back and cutting the bones where the ribs meet the spine, and removing the fourth and third sympathetic ganglia on both sides. The surgery takes about 2~3 hours and there is a wound of about 5~7 centimeters after the surgery, which is painful and requires a longer recovery time, about 3~5 days of hospitalization. In addition, it may also cause pneumothorax (a life-threatening sequela in which the lungs cannot breathe due to air leakage), which has mostly been replaced by sympathectomy with TV endoscopy.  The procedure requires less than half an hour to perform, and after recovery from anesthesia, the patient can go home and rest on the same day, with a success rate of 98%.  ”Thoracoscopic thoracic sympathetic nerve chain dissection” can treat these diseases by making only two tiny incisions less than 1 cm in diameter in each axilla, without opening the chest. The incision is tiny, painless, and the scar does not affect aesthetics, and most patients are discharged from the hospital one day after surgery. The cure rate is high and the patient can resume normal work life quickly. Patients’ pain of several years or decades disappears immediately, and patients’ self-confidence increases rapidly, and they can soon dissolve into normal social life, interpersonal communication and work. Psychometric studies, found that the level of psychological health of patients also improved significantly after surgery. The success rate of treatment is as high as 95-99%.