Most of us are familiar with botulinum toxin injections (commonly known by their brand names as Botox, Dysport and Xeomin) to erase facial wrinkles.
But Botox can also help people who suffer from excessive sweating, which is known as hyperhidrosis. In order to put a halt to sweating, it’s become increasingly more common to receive Botox injections in the armpits. And now, people are getting injections in their groin, as well.
HuffPost recently spoke with Dr. John H.Tu, M.D. from the University of Rochester Department of Dermatology and dermatologist for Dermatology Associates of Rochester. He filled us in on all the details.
To stop sweating, Botox is injected into a patient’s groin crease.
“You have this sort of trough that runs from your hip to where your genitals are,” Dr. Tu said. “Basically it’s a crevice that tends to get trapped by the leg skin and the belly skin. It’s sort of the two diagonal sides of panties ? the diagonal panty line. This is where people tend to get a lot of moisture.”
According to Allergan, the makers of Botox, the toxin injections work by blocking the chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate sweat glands.
Sweating in this region can create a problem, especially if you’re overweight.
“People who are overweight would have a little bit of an overhang of the lower abdomen,” Dr Tu said. “For people who are thin, it’s less of an issue because they would have less of lower belly overhang that’s gonna cause the trapping of moisture. That’s not to say that it cannot occur, to some extent.”
Groin injections are generally administered every four to six months.
“The typical injections that we do for hyperhidrosis of the armpits is between four to six months because that’s how long the product lasts,” Dr. Tu said, adding that if timed correctly, the injections could be seasonal. “I would assume that given the area is about the same in terms of area coverage in terms of the armpits and the groin area more or less they’re about the same area. About six months.”
