ETS or Endoscopic Thoracic Sympathectomy is an operation that is performed on people who suffer from severe flushing of the face, Rosacea or certain forms of anxiety. But if this is something that you are considering then be warned as the picture is not quite as idealistic as you might hope nor think.



Although some "experts" recommend such drastic measures to reduce or eliminate people's suffering there has recently been much documentation on the negative after side effects after having ETS surgery performed.

Such side effects include compensatory sweating - where you actually begin to experience excessive sweating in other parts of the body that you previously didn't seem to have a problem with. This is common and when you think about it - it's simply a way of the body trying to do its job via other methods considering the natural method has been 'tampered' with.

Other side effects are Horner's Syndrome where drooping eyelids, sunken eyes, imbalance in the sweating distribution across the face (from one side to the other) blood shot problems and even pigmentation problems that can be seen to have an effect on one or both of the eyes.

People have also reported Neurotis and Neuralgia which are both problems associated with painful or inflames peripheral nerve endings - mainly in the face and spinal chord. It doesn't end there though; other well known side effects are -

Decreased heart rate (which has a detrimental effect on our physical well being - particularly when exercising)

Dry and flaky facial skin

Pneumothorax - accumulation of air gas in the pelvis which can lead to disease

Hemothorax - accumulation of blood in the chest

But if that wasn't enough, let me list all the known and possible future side effects:

Sensitive Pleurae (chest lining sensitivity) limiting exercise

Horners Syndrome occurrence rate 0.3% (drooping of the eyelid)

Heat intolerance

Pneumothorax (collapsed lung)

Bleeding

Postop Neuralgia and parasthesias are uncommon

Possible hair loss

Bradycardia (slow heart rate) possibly requiring a pacemaker

Subcutaneous emphysema

Possible conversion to open thoracotomy

Possible recurrence of symptoms

Possible necessity for re-do operations

Treatment failure can occur if Kuntz nerves are present and are not cut.

Gustatory sweating (increased sweating while smelling or eating) occurs in some patients.

So, it's clear to see that the side effects of such drastic surgery could potentially lead to far worse conditions than of the problems you are currently experiencing.

Of course there are certain cases where people are experiences such severe discomfort or even out right pain that such a surgical procedure is deemed necessary and therefore ETS is a plausible option.

However, if you are experiencing blushing or redness as a result of psychological or lifestyle causes then you should seriously think twice before going under the knife.

Blushing is a real problem for many people, I know that as wee as anyone having experienced the problem of blushing for many years. However,I can say how glad I am that I never went to such drastic measures in order to deal with what then seemed like the biggest problem in my life...blushing.

These days, after having worked towards my own self improvement, I no longer see blushing as a problem and hardly notice it when I do blush.

It does take a shift in your outlook, but I know it is possible to overcome blushing if you really want to. See my website below for more details on how I actually that.