I have been bothered by underarm sweating since I was 12. I would wear multiple layers to try to conceal my sweating, but I would sweat right through. It was embarrassing for me, to the point I didn’t want to lift my arms in fear of someone seeing my sweat rings. I avoided wearing a lot of bright colors and tight clothes. Often times, I’d opt for wearing a baggy shirt or loose fitting sweaters and sweatshirts, so my clothing wouldn’t rub against my underarms and soak in the sweat. Sometimes it would be so bad that I would roll up toilet paper or a paper towel and put it in the armpit of my shirts in hopes that it would soak up the sweat. Lo and behold, I’d eventually sweat through that and onto my clothing. I ruined a lot of clothing from sweat stains. Wearing white clothing was definitely not an option.

As an adult, it became more of a struggle, especially with dating. I had to pick out my outfits strategically to conceal any sweating. It didn’t matter if I was active or just relaxing on the couch– I’d be sweating. It made me anxious and self-conscious, so I would start sweating more out of anxiety.

I tried over-the-counter antiperspirants and prescription-strength antiperspirants. Sometimes, I’d apply deodorant multiple times a day to try to help with the sweating and the odor. Most over-the-counter antiperspirants didn’t help. I found slight relief with the over-the-counter Certain Dry antiperspirant. This helped relieve how much I was sweating, but it didn’t fix the issue. I knew I wanted a more permanent solution. That is when I looked into having the miraDry treatment done.

Before I had my first treatment, I had a consultation with Joanie, the clinician who does the treatment. She gave me very clear indications on what to expect during the treatment and the days following. She made me feel very comfortable and excited about my first treatment.

On the day of my appointment, Joanie made me feel very calm and comfortable. She brought me back into the room and measured my underarms so she could choose the template that was right for me. After my template was placed (aka my temporary tattoo), she began numbing my underarms. They numb your underarms to make the miraDry treatment more comfortable for you. The numbing is uncomfortable but tolerable. The initial injection you feel the most. It sort of feels like a bee sting. After that initial injection, she massaged my underarm to help spread the numbing around to make the additional pokes more comfortable. After that, you barely feel the other injections. Once the numbing process was done, she placed the miraDry handpiece on my underarm and began destroying my sweat glands. For the most part, I didn’t feel anything. You could feel the handpiece suction your skin up before delivering the microwave energy, but it wasn’t painful at all. Joanie made sure I was comfortable throughout the whole process and checked in with me multiple times to make sure I wasn’t feeling any pain. Once she treated my underarms, an ice pack was immediately placed to help with the swelling. I was excited that the treatment was done because I couldn’t wait to see my results. The miraDry treatment results are immediate and I couldn’t wait to not be bothered by sweating anymore.

Later that day, once the numbing started to wear off, I started to feel a little pain, which is totally normal. Joanie instructed me to ice, ice, ice! The first day post-treatment was pretty uncomfortable, which was to be expected. Joanie did a really good job at setting my expectations on what I would experience post-treatment. I took the next day off work to recover. I had some swelling, bruising, and a slight burning sensation, which was able to be managed with ibuprofen and lots of icing. The burning sensation only lasted for the first day and felt more like having a sunburn in your underarms. It wasn’t painful, just a little uncomfortable. The best advice Joanie gave me was to freeze 4 water bottles and use those as my ice packs for my underarms. Day 2 post-treatment, the side effects were much more manageable. I was still icing, but not as much. My underarms were still swollen and tender, but not completely uncomfortable.

I am now one week post-treatment, and I am already so pleased with my results! I am so glad that I decided to do the miraDry treatment. I have had little to no sweating since the day of my treatment. I even went on a long walk with my dogs and had no sweating. Trust me, I should have been sweating. I have a little tenderness in the underarms still, which is to be expected. I am still getting used to being able to wear whatever I want without fear of giant sweat rings, but it is such a big relief knowing I don’t have to worry about that anymore, especially with my wedding coming up in November! The miraDry treatment is totally worth it and I highly recommend it to anyone who is bothered by their underarm sweat or odor. Plus, a bonus is that it can reduce your underarm hair!

Thank you, Seattle Skin and Laser!

Kaytee Belcher