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Arlopilot wrote:

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The real root of my problem was that I was overly concerned about what others..especially strangers.. thought....

....What I believe is really sad is these ETS doctors realize this and are preying on us when we are at our weakest. They're solution just adds more problems to what can be overcome by other solutions.

Bingo. Just like the surgeons that do nose jobs and boob jobs, ETS surgeons exploit the insecurities people develop over a physiologically benign problem. They fraudulently tell patients they have a "disease" for which there is a "cure" when, in fact, it's just cosmetic surgery for a benign condition. Sweating excessively in a particularly location is annoying and embarrassing, but it's not a disease.

In addition, they exploit our ignorance regarding a rather obscure area of human neuroanatomy and neurophysiology. When the tell patients that they will be cutting (or clamping) the "little nerve that controls palm sweating", the vast majority of people have no idea that that statement is complete nonsense.

So, in my view, hyperhidrosis sufferers are exploited on two levels by surgeons.

Recently, when I've attempted to talk people out of the surgery, I've tried to use the same reasoning you have presented here. That is, the problem is not that you sweat too much, but that you are overly concerned with the opinions of others. Don't try to abolish the physical manifestations of anxiety by having some greed-driven surgeon mangle you nervous system. Go after the root cause: the anxiety. That anxiety results from our concern over how we are perceived by others. It's a phobia. Phobias can be treated with psychotherapy and should never be treated with nerve surgery.