As much as it is unfortunate and nobody likes it, sweating is a regular part of exercising and working out. Wellness bodybuilder and social media fitness start Odalis Santos Mena trying to get a procedure done to stop herself from sweating, and it ultimately cost the 23-year old her life.
Hailing from Mexico, Mena had a little bit of experience in the world of bodybuilding, most notably winning the 2019 Miss and Mr. Hercules title, and a lot of experience attracting fans on social media. She used her physical gifts, and her neck for fitness to land a variety of sponsorships and endorsement deals throughout the course of her career as an influencer.
Apparently one of these endorsements was going to come from the SkinPiel clinic in Guadalajara, who wanted to use her almost 150,000 Instagram followers to promote a breakthrough antiperspirant treatment called MiraDry. This heat treatment is supposed to completely remove sweat glands, supposedly ending perspiration for good.
Unfortunately things did not turn out so well for Odalis Santos Mena, who was said to receive what would be this groundbreaking procedure. After being put under with anesthesia, she went into cardiac arrest, ultimately passing away after members of the clinic were unable to revive her with CPR.
Since this incident, authorities have launched an investigation into the SkinPiel clinic, trying to determine the cause of what went wrong. Their chief theory however, is that the anesthesia was administered by somebody who is not a trained anesthesiologist, which in the end resulted in some sort of mishap.
On the other hand, is also believed that Mena had an adverse reaction to the anesthesia, when it mixed into her system with a steroid that she was taking. SkinPiel claims that they had no idea that she was taking this steroid at the time of administering the procedure.
Prior to undergoing the treatment and losing her life, Odalis promoted MiraDry as a safe procedure that would effectively end perspiration. Unfortunately, it is clear at this point that it is not completely safe, whether it was the fault of the 23-year-old or the clinic who administered the procedure.
Mena’s death upset many in the community including her boyfriend and personal trainer, Victor Gomez Carreno who shared a lovely message on his Instagram.
“‘Your actions in life, echo in eternity,” he wrote. “I will take you with me forever short, it makes no sense to write here what I feel in my heart @odalis_sm, I love you.”
That being said, it is worth noting that the procedure like this is not only unconventional, but may also have long-term lasting effects on somebody who regularly works out like Odalis Santos Mena would have. As gross and smelly as it may be, perspiration is an important part of your body’s response to overheating, and tampering with that very well could have led to other adverse side effects down the line.
Related: 20 Year Old Female TikToker Has Heart Attack After Dry-Scooping Preworkout
Sad. Anytime you have a procedure done outside of a hospital setting, you have to be very careful. In the U.S., think of the boob jobs, the butt implants, and the face lifts. Remember Joan Rivers? You never know what will happen. Also, they did CPR, but where’s the defibrillator? That could have saved her life. All over not wanting to sweat.
Sad.
I find it interesting that no one speaks of the dangers of the sun on the body. I have a chromosomal disorder called Hypo-Hydrotic Ectodermal Dysplasia Syndrome. The result is, I have no sweat glands at all. This has put my life in danger many, many times. On one of my failing episodes, we were in Atlanta in 1996 at the Olympics. It was so hot my body could not take the fact that it was getting hotter and hotter with no natural way to cool down my body. My brain started breaking down and I started blubbering and crying uncontrollably. Then, I pass out. I had an episode in Jersusalem once, as well. The bus team took me into a restaurant to hopefully, to cool off. But, the window air conditioner blew nothing but hot air. The team took me out onto the bus, and turned the air conditioner up full blast. My husband poured 10 bottles of water over my head and body so I would not have a heart attack or stroke and end up in a hospital. It is a dibilitating disorder and the summer is not my friend. When I was a teen and people would ask me to go to the beach or lake with them, I had to decline. They thought I was making it up that I physically could not partipitate in those activities for concern for my well being. I think that my disorder is probably more prevalent than what is talked about today because people have not gone to the doctor to see what is wrong with their bodies being unable to take in the heat and humidity from the sun. I had an episode in Savannah in which we were touring with the ghost tour at 1:00 am. While walking to the hotel, I broke down in the lobby. My daughter had to put me in the shower and let it run over me while I still had all of my clothes on. This, alone is dangerous and can cause heat-driven deaths. A professional doctor would NEVER remove sweat glands from a patient. If they do, they are quacks not professionals.
I love the feeling of sweat dripping down into my bobody after a work out. And I don’t even smell. On the contrary I like my smell !
Perhaps the author of this article will develop a knack for spelling. This young lady experienced a reaction to the anesthesia. Unfortunately a.small percentage of people have this type of reaction. This is very unfortunate as she probably could have been saved had the clinic had a defibrillator on board.
People need to stop changing what was given to them by our creator. Like the Kardasians, never happy. People need to be happy with themselves and stop following these celebrities in Hollywood. They should take the Kardasians, along with the rest of fake bodies and throw them on a separate Island. These people are setting a bad example for our kids. These days almost everything is fake on a female, ie fake nails, fake boobs, fake butt, too many BOTOX. Keep supporting the stupid Kardasian family.
Sweat glands were created to release toxins from the body. What a dumb girl. Obviously had an obsessive compulsive personality…too much working out, figure was overboard important to her…high maintenance.
I agree @kneedragger !!!!
So sad…may she rest in peace💔💔💔
For people who have commented regarding you need sweat glands (you do for sure) but the minimal amount that are deactivated in the underarms is not harmful and you will still sweat with the Miradry procedure but how a normal person would.
For those of you who do not have hyperhidrosis (HH) or know what it is, look it up and just look at images of what people who have this go through
Would you like to be wet all day everyday? Those that “love to sweat” after a workout…. Imagine feeling the sweat all day everyday and you cannot control it. Some people with HH has their skin start to rot or break open from being wet all the time and swelling. It isn’t just a little sweat. Try opening something…. You can’t because your ha ss are soaked. Try writing, your hands slide on the pen and your paper is soaked. Try sweating in 20 degrees being wet…. Skin ripping off your feet from being wet and blistering and rubbing the skin off in your shoes when you walk. Some cannot control their smell die to the excessive wetness
Some people sweat on their head and it looks like they just showered.
It creates depression and anxiety for a lot of us that have it
People are mean, if they don’t have it it’s easy to say “it’s only sweat” and those are the same people who say “eew your ha ss are sweaty” or “why are you sweating so much” as if it can be controlled
For those that have said that she deserved death for choosing to do this are just bad humans that lack a lot. I hope they can educate themselves vs making assumptions about things in which they have no experience in or know nothing about. Get your facts and if you still feel the same then make your comments
What a terrible tragedy. A intelligent, classy, goal oriented, successful woman!! Your life was cut way way to short. I pray that your soul reaches the comfort of our Lord’s embrace. 🙏 Prayers for her boyfriend & family, that they find peace & joy again in their lives AMEN