The antidote to underarm stains stands out as the similar stuff you scan potato chips ingredient lists for: sodium. Sure actually. The model new Brella SweatControl patch places the alkali steel to a very new and lengthy overdue use: controlling hyperhidrosis, which is outlined as extreme sweating and impacts about 15.3 million People (though some consultants consider the situation is underreported and that quantity could also be even increased) .
Because the identify suggests, the Brella is a patch. You put on one on every armpit for 3 minutes, and this easy remedy can curb sweating for the subsequent three to 4 months. It’s administered in a health care provider’s workplace, is offered by prescription solely, and is at present authorised by the FDA. Brella is predicted to be rolled out to dermatologists and plastic surgeons later this summer season.
Meet the consultants:
- Robert Anolik, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist in New York Metropolis.
- Mona Gohara, MD, is a board-certified dermatologist in Hamden, Connecticut.
- Niquette Hunt is CEO of Candesant Biomedical.
How does the Brella SweatControl patch work?
The patch is definitely an thrilling new growth on the planet of hyperhidrosis remedy, however it’s “based mostly on a really previous scientific precept,” mentioned Niquette Hunt, CEO of Candesant Biomedical, the corporate behind the patch.
That precept is a straightforward scientific response: Sodium reacts with water to supply warmth. This is the revolutionary half: Sweat is about 98 p.c water. So in the event you put on the patch – which accommodates sodium – and water from overactive sweat glands comes into contact with it…you guessed it! You get warmth. “The interplay of water and sodium generates a focused quantity of warmth, and also you get microthermal damage within the sweat gland that inactivates it for a time frame,” says Hunt, explaining that it isn’t all that completely different from the best way skin-tightening and hair-zapping units work. “Many power units deposit microthermal power into the pores and skin to make a change.” Besides that the patch is just not plugged in, however powered by your individual physique.
“The mechanism is fairly intelligent,” says Robert Anolik, MD, a board-certified dermatologist in New York Metropolis. “It is a fully new technique of decreasing sweat in comparison with different modalities.” Two of the preferred, he says, are Botox injections and miraDry (a thermal power system). However the patch “avoids needles in people who find themselves needle phobic [and] miraDry is a extra sophisticated process that may result in (anticipated and tolerable) swelling and tenderness. The patch might theoretically keep away from these drawbacks,” says Dr. Anolik. “It is thrilling to have this new software.”
