Prise en charge d'une hyperhidrose

Hyperhidrosis continues to be undertreated in our view, despite its propensity to considerably impair quality of life. We shall break down therapeutic approaches to hyperhidrosis into several steps: (a) determine the physiological causes of excess sweating; (b) establish the type of hyperhidrosis involved and screen for causes of secondary hyperhidrosis before diagnosing essential hyperhidrosis; (c) evaluate the severity of the hyperhidrosis by means of a validated scale (HDSS score), Minor's starch-iodine test or gravimetric analysis; (d) select one of the medical therapies currently available, i.e. topical therapy (antiperspirants, iontophoresis or botulinum toxin injection), systemic therapy (oxybutynin) or surgery (thoracic sympathectomy).