Getting hyperhidrosis treated in the UK
This is the short version: what to buy or ask for, and who actually sees you. The long pathway, including Botox funding, waiting lists and private costs, is the NHS treatment guide. Use that page for the detail. Use this one to decide the next step.
Educational only. This page is not medical advice and has not been reviewed by a clinician. See a GP or pharmacist about your own sweating, and read the disclaimer.
1.Pharmacy this week
The NICE clinical knowledge summary starts with a 20% aluminium chloride hexahydrate antiperspirant for localised sweating of the underarms, hands and feet. Driclor, Anhydrol Forte and Odaban are that strength. A pharmacist can sell them without a GP prescription. Perspirex is the gentler roll-on if a 20% product stings. Use the leaflet: dry skin at night, wash off in the morning.
2.GP, if that is not enough
Book a GP appointment if sweating disrupts daily life, started suddenly, happens at night, or a correctly used pharmacy product has failed. The GP can look for another cause and discuss oral medicines. Propantheline is the oral medicine licensed for hyperhidrosis in the UK. Oxybutynin is often used off-label.
3.NHS dermatology
Iontophoresis and botulinum toxin are hospital treatments, and funding is local. Hands, feet and face are less often funded than severe underarms. Axhidrox (glycopyrronium cream) is a later option for severe underarm sweating in adults, on the terms in NICE TA1175.
4.Private, for speed
A private dermatologist can see you sooner. The treatments are the same ones in the NICE summary. You are paying for access, not a different medicine. miraDry is private-only in the UK.
Pharmacy antiperspirants
Affiliate disclosure: Driclor, Perspirex and Odaban links go to Amazon UK and may earn a commission. Anhydrol Forte goes to a Chemist.net product page and is not an Associates link. Boots links elsewhere on this site are not affiliate links.
Compare them on best antiperspirants. Hands: sweaty hands. Feet: sweaty feet.
Who to contact
In England you normally reach a dermatologist through your GP. The British Association of Dermatologists is the professional body for UK consultant dermatologists. The International Hyperhidrosis Society keeps a worldwide list; a US clinic on that list is not an NHS referral.
What to take to the GP
- 1Which areas sweat, whether it stops at night, and when it started.
- 2The pharmacy products you have already used, and for how many weeks.
- 3A note of how much it gets in the way. Our severity check uses the same four statements clinicians use to describe impact. It is not a diagnosis.
- 4Ask what your local area funds for iontophoresis and underarm botulinum toxin. The NHS treatment guide is the longer briefing to read before you go. Hands have their own buying guide at sweaty hands.
Not sure sweating is the main issue? The four-question sweat quiz points at a starting page. It is not an assessment.