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FACIAL BLUSHING Sudden facial blushing elicited by social stimuli may be very embarrassing. Patients with this condition may blush meeting friends in the street, paying in a shop or just sitting together with friends having lunch. Suddenly the face turns deep red, an embarrassing situation making social and even professional life almost impossible. The condition may lead to social isolation and depression. The facial blushing is caused by over activity in the sympathetic nervous system and can be cured by interrupting the nervous supply to the small blood vessels of the face. Mr Braithwaite performs thoracoscopic sympathectomy under general anaesthesia. A thin instrument is introduced via the arm pit into the thoracic cavity. The sympathetic nerve located close to the spine is divided at two levels. The whole operation on both sides takes less than 20 minutes. Mr Braithwaite has treated several patients with facial and neck flushing both as NHS and private patients. The results have been immediately successful and all patients followed up have said that their lives have been dramatically improved.
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