Underarm Odor

Underarm odor is an offensive smell from the armpits. About 20 percent of Japanese people genetically have large amount of apocrine glands, one of the two sweat glands, deep in the skin. Otologists say that about 20% of their patients have wet earwax. If one of a patient’s parents has this trait, it is transmitted to the patient as an autosomal dominant inheritance. Wet earwax is more common among Western people than among Japanese. It is rare for Western people to receive an odor removal surgery. That is why perfume and deodorant products have been commonly used in the west to conceal body odor. People in the East are sensitive to body odor in general. Underarm odor removal procedures are commonly practiced in Asian countries such as Japan, Korea, Taiwan and China. In Japan, surgeons study the most advanced, cutting edge odor removal techniques in the world. At our clinic, we practice a procedure to remove excess apocrine glands in order to eliminate underarm odor. This is a procedure adopted in many cosmetic surgery clinics.

Surgical Procedures to Eliminate Underarm Odor

Excess apocrine glands must be removed in order to eliminate underarm odor. Underarm odor removal surgery is completely different from other aesthetic plastic surgery procedures.

Skin becomes bruised and thin after the removal of apocrine glands. When you scrape your knee or hand, you go through a process of bleeding and developing a scab before the wound is healed. The pain and internal bleeding continues for a while. The similar process takes place with the underarm odor removal surgery. Underarm odor conditions will not improve unless the apocrine glands are eradicated from the root. Underarm skin is scraped from inside, so there will be an internal bleeding after the surgery. If the scraped skin is not properly treated and healed, the scar might remain and the skin might become tightened.

There are clinics that advertise “Underarm odor will be gone in 30 minutes.” You can easily tell that it is a false advertising if you think about a scraped knee healing in 30 minutes. The more carefully the sweat glands are removed, the more important the postoperative treatment becomes. The underarm odor removal surgery is an once-in-a-lifetime event. Please select your medical provider very carefully. Don’t be fooled by an advertisement that says, “Simple cure of underarm odor” or “Only 2 postoperative visits”. There are many clinics that charge a lot of money, but can’t provide their patients satisfactory surgery results.

At our clinic, we remove apocrine glands and hair roots completely by scraping the underarm skin. Our careful method minimizes a scar to about 1 centimeter. We are confident that our patients’ postoperative skin condition will be very good. Actually, their skin condition will be better than that of the patients who had the same surgery at major cosmetic surgery clinics. Postoperative visits and aftercare are very important for the proper healing of the skin. We take only patients who can take proper postoperative care of their skin.

You cannot raise your arm for 1 week after the surgery. Please refrain from vigorous exercise for 2 to 3 weeks after the surgery. We ask our patients to take at least 4 days off from an office work if the surgery is performed for only one armpit at a time. Patients need at least 7 days off from work if the surgery is performed on both armpits simultaneously. If the patient’s work requires movements of arms on a regular basis, he/she needs to take at least 1 week off. Postoperative clinic visits are required on the third, seventh, fourteenth, twenty-first and twenty-eighth days after the surgery. Dr. Homma will check his patients’ skin condition after those visits and advise them on further visits if necessary. Please be warned that smoking deteriorates the healing process tremendously. Please refrain from smoking for 4 weeks after the surgery.

Anesthesia for Underarm Odor Elimination Surgery

We apply local anesthesia to the patients with about 6x10 cm operation area. Full anesthesia is given to the patients with a larger operation area or the patients without pain tolerance. If the patient receives full anesthesia, he/she cannot eat or drink after 21:00 the night before the surgery. Pre-surgery blood test is required before receiving full anesthesia. You may go home after the surgery even if you received full anesthesia.

Process of Underarm Odor Removal Surgery

We operate in the area where the underarm skin is sticky (location of apocrine glands). We treat an area larger than the area with underarm hair in order to eliminate underarm odor completely. We make only a small incision (about 1 cm long) on the base of the arm when we perform the surgery.	1 week after the surgery. We scraped the skin thinly, so the skin looks injured at this point. Proper postoperative care is the key to a successful recovery and clean skin appearance after the surgery. You will have very minor pain and a little itch from the tape on your skin. You cannot raise your arms for 1 week after the surgery.
2 weeks after the surgery. The skin condition is more settled at this point. Treat your underarm by applying gauze with ointment after the bath every day. If the affected area is not treated properly, a scar will be left on the skin.	3 weeks after the surgery. Skin feels tightened around this time. There is also a redness and pigment deposition on the skin. You need to apply pressure on your armpit with sponge or gauze for 3 to 4 weeks after the surgery. Without this treatment, the skin will be wrinkled and hardened.
3 months after the surgery. Underarm hair starts to grow back around this time. Tightened and hardened skin returns to a normal condition.	6 months after the surgery. When the underarm hair grows back, it can be removed by laser treatment. (Discount price is given to the patients who had underarm odor removal surgery.) Pigment deposition and redness are almost invisible around this time.

Q: Is there a recurrence of underarm odor?

A: Medically, recurrence is defined as a cellular proliferation and an occurrence of symptoms as in cancer. Apocrine glands which cause underarm odor do not multiply or transfer like cancer cell once they are removed. If underarm odor comes back after the surgery, it is because the apocrine glands were not removed completely.

Q: The surgery looks painful. I am afraid of pain.

A: If you are concerned about pain or you have a large area to be treated, we will give you full anesthesia. You will not feel pain if you rest with ointment applied on the operated area. Most patients don’t experience pain during the surgery. You will feel minor itch on your skin when the tape is on it.

Q: Does your surgery really eliminate underarm odor for such a reasonable cost?

A: By the rule, our clinic cannot charge more than the rate the government determined when the health insurance covers the surgery cost. We can offer our patients a reasonable fee because the underarm odor removal surgery performed at our clinic is covered by insurance. No matter how reasonable our fees are, the quality of our services meets or exceeds the industry standard. Most of our patients are very happy with our services and surgery results.