Botox effective with fewer sessions

Portland, Ore. - New research suggests that patients getting Botox treatments can reduce wrinkles with half as many sessions after 20 months, Medical News Today reports.

The research, conducted at Oregon Health & Science University’s Casey Eye Institute, sought to determine whether less frequent Botox (onabotulinumtoxinA, Allergan) treatments could provide longer-lasting reduction of glabellar rhytids. The study included 50 women ages 30 to 50 who received regular Botox injections for two years.

Medical News Today quotes Roger Dailey, M.D., who led the study, as saying, “We found that after a patient receives Botox Cosmetic injections every four months for two years, the frequency of treatments can be changed to six months with comparable wrinkle-reducing results and high patient satisfaction. Patients who are unwilling to undergo Botox treatments every three months indefinitely because of cost, convenience or other concerns may reconsider if they could achieve similar results with two to three treatments per year.”

While a treatment schedule of every three months is likely to achieve the best results in the least amount of time, the study concluded that other schedules offer similar results at less cost.

The study also shows the injections have a prophylactic effect. Dr. Dailey, head of the Casey Aesthetic Facial Surgery Center, says patients who begin getting Botox treatments between their 30s and 50s are able to prevent dynamic wrinkles from forming and eliminate existing wrinkles. “Observations during our subjects’ final visits also suggest that further wrinkle prevention could be achieved with continued treatment beyond two years,” Dr. Dailey tells Medical News Today.

The results were published in the June 11 issue of Dermatologic Surgery.