DALLAS -- Rachael Suman has destroyed her wardrobe and tested her confidence because she sweats so much.
"I got these dress shields, kind of like liners for your underarms, that you stick in your jacket," Suman said. "But some outfits you just can't hide it."
Topical medicines didn't work, and her Botox underarm therapy was temporary.
So she is one of the first in North Texas to try miraDry, a new FDA-approved procedure.
First, Dr. Michael Maris maps out the sweat glands to create a grid that mirrors one on the miraDry machine.
Then, local anesthesia numbs the area. Next, the miraDry wand suctions the skin, bringing the sweat glands closer.
While the heat works to get rid of sweat glands using microwaves, a cooling cycle is meant to keep the skin safe from damage.
"I feel, like, pressure and suction," Suman said. "But I don't feel any pain."
Your entire body has about 4 million sweat glands, and about two percent of those are under the arm. This procedure is meant to get rid of the sweat glands and the odor in just a few days.
But did it work?
We checked in with Suman one week later.
“I feel really dry right now," Suman explained as she walked her dog around the block. "Normally, I would start having sweat rings."
Suman says she's 90 percent dry. However that's after swelling and soreness lasted a full week.
"The first day ... I couldn't put my arms down comfortably," she said.
Dr. Maris studied the years of research for concerns before bringing miraDry to North Texas.
"There have not been any cases of tissue breakdown, or lymph node or nerve involvement, but sometimes you can get a little numbness outside the treated area there, that a can lost a few weeks or longer," he said.
"I haven't used an anti-perspirant since the procedure," Suman said. "The fact I can say that, and not be dripping wet, is amazing."
And now that means she can walk without wondering if she'll need a change of clothes.
