It's easy to sweat a lot in New Orleans with the high humidity.  But for some people, the problem is so bad it's a medical condition.  And now there is an unusual way one doctor is helping his patients.

Scott Friedman is a second-year medical student at Tulane, and that's when a condition he has had since high school started to bother him.

"We always had the scrubs on, and I just noticed everyday after anatomy lab I'd come out of class and there would just be sweat underneath my arm pits," says Patient Scott Friedman.

He would just drip with sweat covering his shirt down to his waist.

"It was just a hassle everyday I'd have to cover it up or I'd have to change undershirts at least one or two times a day.  It was just a pain, really," he adds. "Hyperhidrosis is a condition in which people sweat to much and you may not think of that as anything too bad but people who have severe aspects of this disease are very, very uncomfortable with it," says Dr. William P. Coleman III, a
dermatologic surgeon in Metairie.

Dr. Coleman has been doing studies on hyperhidrosis, or over active sweat glands, for many years. He says it's common under the arms, on the hands, feet and even can be on the face or middle of the back.  It was in 2004 when Medical Watch first covered his tests using Botox injections in the underarms to calm them down. 

"Hyperhidrosis is a lot more common than you would think. When we did the studies years ago to analyze the effects of Botox on sweating, we found patients just coming out of the woodwork with this condition," says Dr. Coleman. 

The treatment with Botox was successful, but to use a large amount of Botox every six months can get costly, so Scott decided to try a one-time procedure to help.

"I just figured in the future if I am trying to become a doctor and I'm leaning over a patient, I don't want to be dripping sweat on them when I'm leaning over them," says Scott. 

So about a year ago Dr. Coleman used liposuction on Scott. But instead of suctioning out fat, he selectively removed some of the sweat glands so Scott would sweat like a normal person. 

He has been studying this procedure since the 80's and says it needs to be done by a skilled physician since taking out too many glands could cause extreme dryness and chaffing.

"It's very easy to really mess up when you're doing this. You could cause tremendous scaring, you could cause nerve damage, so it needs to be done by somebody who really understands what they are doing," says Dr. Coleman. 

During the hour long procedure, Scott was awake, felt some pinching and is left with only two tiny incision marks and a new quality of life.

"Huge difference. I don't have to change undershirts halfway through the day," he says.

Insurance does not cover the procedure which can run around $2,500.