Botox for Acne?

For the past decade, Botox (and now Dysport too) has been the primary wrinkle cure for smoothing the forehead and erasing crow's feet.  Less well known are its established uses in...

• reshaping the eyebrows, especially increasing the arching of the brows
• getting rid of "bunny lines" on the sides of the nose
• lifting the corners of the mouth (to soften sad frowns)
• diminishing the banding of the neck muscles
• minimizing sweating in the arm pits, hands, and feet

And now one report published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology suggests that Botox can effectively treat acne.  17 of 20 patients treated with Botox into the skin noticed that...

• their skin was less oily
• their pores were smaller
• their acne improved

I am excited to offer this option to my patients in Ventura, especially for those who have not had success with benzoyl peroxide, antibiotics, salicylic acid, light therapy, Accutane, and other types of acne treatments.

Comments

[John smith]

acne free in 3 days..?
is this true..?

[Michael C. Pickart, M.D., F.A.C.S.]

Is Botox a good treatment for acne? Heck, I am still not sure. Since the original post in August 2009, many patients have anecdotally mentioned that Botox does make their acne better, but the results have certainly not been dramatic. In my office, I still recommend benzoyl peroxide and a tetracycline (such as minocycline or doxcycline) for first-line acne treatment. I have yet to use Botox specifically for this purpose.