A Third Cosmetic Use for BOTOX® Gets Approval

As a dermatologist instrumental in investigating the benefits and safety of addressing crow’s feet with BOTOX^® treatments, Los Angeles-based physician Dr. Derek Jones has long used the injectable cosmetic for a range of applications, some officially approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and some considered off-label. Toward the end of 2017, the FDA gave BOTOX^® Cosmetic a new stamp of approval, bringing the total federally recognized cosmetic uses up to three.

Already enjoying FDA approvals for frown lines and crow’s feet, BOTOX^® now has the government’s nod to be marketed as a treatment for horizontal forehead lines—a change that makes the most popular cosmetic treatment in the country now the most versatile such treatment as well. No other neurotoxin (the word for botulinum toxin-based injectables, of which BOTOX^® is just one example) is indicated for three areas on the face. In the United States, it is the sole neurotoxin approved by the FDA for aesthetic applications beyond frown lines—technically known as glabellar lines.

Clinical trials revealed that BOTOX^® Cosmetic was considered more effective than a placebo at smoothing out frown lines, assessed at 30 days after the treatment by both an investigator and the test subjects themselves. In fact, subjects who received injections of the actual cosmetic and found it effective once they reached their primary endpoint numbered 61 percent in the first trial and 46 percent in the second. Subjects who received the placebo and found it to be effective at the same endpoint numbered zero in the first trial and 1 percent in the second.

Three treatment cycles yielded overall similar response rates.

What does this mean for patients who choose Skin Care and Laser Physicians of Beverly Hills? Since the physician-only team is already experienced in using the injectable to treat forehead lines—and more—available applications will remain the same, but women and men alike can find satisfaction in their choice of the reliable, effective, and popular BOTOX^®.

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