Botox Patient » Botox Injection

The Truth About How Botox Works

Botox Patient — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:35:38 +0000

What exactly does Botox do?

One of our goals for this Guide is to give you an accurate description of how Botox works. Of course before you can decide that a Botox treatment will work for you, you have to know how the drug works.

A simple google search on the topic will give you the impression that the research is easy enough – and it actually is. Well, at least until you come across a site that says something different. Then you question which of the two possibilities is correct.

Here’s what most of the sites say: Botox blocks the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine which is the muscle’s signal to contract. Even the pictures available online all illustrate this cause and effect scenario. The common visual interpretation depicts Botox as encircling little spheres in the nerve ending that contain the acetylcholine. By virtue of such encircling, Botox prevents the release of the neurotransmitter and the muscle does not receive its signal to contract. No muscle contractions mean reduction in wrinkles. This explanation puts forward the theory that what is affected is the function in the nerve ending.

Now, here is what the dissenting website had to say: the function of Botox is to prevent the receptors on the side of the muscle from recognizing the acetylcholine – which means that the neurotransmitter is still released but the muscle receptors cannot recognize the signal. In this explanation, the organ affected by Botox is the muscle.

To a non-scientist, the second theory actually makes sense following this logic: Botox is injected into the muscle therefore, the organ affected is the muscle.

However, when one realizes that the Botulinum Toxin, from which Botox is derived, is a neurotoxin, you realize that it can and will have an effect on the functions of neurons so it is plausible that they affect the nerve that is responsible for making the muscles move even if the drug is injected in the latter.

Ah, the confusion.

It doesn’t help that Medline Plus, a website by the US National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health, says that Botox treatments work by weakening or paralyzing certain muscles OR by blocking certain nerves. This technically gives both of the theories leg to stand on. This now leads me to 3 hypotheses: (1) both of these theories are actually correct and are not mutually exclusive in describing the effects of botox, (2) if only one of them is correct, even these government agencies are unsure which of the two is correct or (3) none of these theories is correct and there is a third explanation out there just waiting to be discovered.

On that note, let the research resume…

The Truth About How Botox Works is a post from: Botox Patient

Debunking Botox Myths

Botox Patient — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:27:10 +0000

We’ve started writing the Insider’s Guide To Botox and are keeping you in mind the whole time — as much as possible, we’d like to address your Botox concerns from the moment you start deliberating if you’re a good candidate for the procedure until the time you schedule your next treatment.

One of the things that we decided to do is address the myths surrounding Botox and give you the correct information.

We came across several erroneous and misleading articles and commentaries online while conducting our initial research and this propelled our efforts into separating Botox myths from facts. We also took note of common misconceptions and will distinguish which ones are true and which are not.

We figured that if we were to put ourselves in the shoes of someone searching around online for information that will help them decide if they’re going to go through with the procedure, we’d end up having to wrestle with confusing literature especially with topics relating to when you should schedule your next treatment, who are authorized to administer the drug and something as basic as how the drug works.

All this is geared towards creating the ultimate guide for the smart Botox patient.

Here are the general headlines of the Guide:

Botox Basics: Everything you need to know even before your first consult
Botox Treatment: Overcoming Botox Jitters
Botox Aftermath: Making the effects of Botox last

Debunking Botox Myths is a post from: Botox Patient

Getting Botox For The First Time

Botox Patient — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 16:27:41 +0000

We’re about to make available a new guide for anyone looking in to the possibility of getting Botox for the first time.

Here’s the very first outline that we’re starting to work from. Of course, it’s only a rough draft but it’ll take shape soon enough.

Botox Patient: Getting Botox For The First Time. A guide to Botox for smart women.

Before: a woman thinking it over at home

What is Botox
Address the concern that Botox is a toxin
What it does
Why it has the effect that it does
Am I candidate for Botox injections
How do I select a Physician/Clinic
During: a woman on her first consult and procedure
What is the nature of the office examination
Questions that Physicians ask
Questions that a Patient must ask
How soon after the first consult can the procedure be done

The Botox Treatment

How is it administered
Where is it injected
Is it painful?
What a patient can do to minimize the pain (Take pain killers before the procedure?)
How long does the procedure last
Out patient procedure
Is it advisable to do it during lunch hour?
We could include the “what you need to know but doctors don’t tell you” part here

After: a woman who just finished her first botox treatment

What are the things a first-timer must remember
How long does the effect last (how long before next treatment)
Possible side effects
Any special advice to take care of skin that has been recently botoxed
How to address possible inflammation or tenderness on the area treated
How to make the botox last

Getting Botox For The First Time is a post from: Botox Patient

Can Botox make you happier?

Botox Patient — Sun, 02 May 2010 03:35:10 +0000

Are emotions only skin deep? Check out this new info about a positive side effect from Botox….

Botox injections administered to reduce frown lines may also delay patients’ recognition of anger and sadness around them, according to a study to be published in the journal Psychological Science. This common cosmetic treatment uses botulinum toxin type A (BTX) — known as Botox — to paralyze facial muscles that control frowning and relax the surrounding skin wrinkles. “Botox induces a kind of mild, temporary cognitive blindness to information in the world, social information about the emotions of other people,” said David Havas, lead study author and a psychologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Havas’ team evaluated 40 first-time Botox patients before, and then two weeks after, they underwent treatment. On both occasions, the participants read happy, sad or angry statements, and pushed a button to indicate their comprehension of the text. After receiving the Botox injections, it took longer for the frown-impaired participants to process the angry and sad statements. However, the time required to process happy statements did not change.

The study results support the “facial feedback hypothesis,” which states that physical expressions, such as grinning or grimacing, signal our brains to produce an emotional responses. In this case, the Botox injections prevented frowning, and so delayed the perception of negative statements.

Murad Alam, an associate professor of dermatology at Northwestern University, has also investigated the Botox-facial feedback relationship and found a link between restricted frown muscles and mood. “When we are sad, angry or frustrated, but we have Botox on board, our muscles do not contract to create furrows between our brows and deep creases on our foreheads,” Alam said. “This lack of frowning and wrinkling works backward to adjust our emotions and make us happier.” “We all know that language has the power to move us to emotional experience; just read your favorite novel, or listen to a rousing speaker,” Havas said. “This research shows how it works: Language moves emotions in part by moving the face.”

Can Botox make you happier? is a post from: Botox Patient

Botox Patient: Looking into the crystal ball for 2010

Botox Patient — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 20:05:18 +0000

The editors of Consumer Guide to Plastic Surgery are gazing into the crystal ball once again to see what’s in store for 2010.

Even More Botox-Like Products Will Come to Market.

First there was Botox Cosmetic; then 2009 brought the Botox alternative Dysport. In 2010, expect to see a few more Botox rivals, including a topical form of the popular wrinkle relaxer and at least one more injectable. A couple of injectable Botox cousins are in development, but PurTox will likely be the next to get a nod from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The main difference in these injectables seems to be how long the results last and how quickly the products start to work on your crow’s feet.

Fat Injections to the Breast Will Be Used Cosmetically.

After being condemned by plastic surgery associations, fat injections to the breast were deemed OK for “touch-ups” after breast reconstruction in 2008. But these once controversial injections may soon play a role in cosmetic breast augmentation. Taking fat from a part of the body where there is too much (your thighs or butt, for example) and injecting it into your breasts where there is too little, may replace the need for breast implants when done in conjunction with a breast lift. Some kinks still need to be worked out, but fat injections to the breast are likely here to stay.

Surgeons Will Invent – and Perfect – Body Contouring Surgeries to Follow Massive Weight Loss.

More and more people are undergoing bariatric surgery to lose weight, only to be left with hanging fat and flab in highly visible areas. As plastic surgeons put on their thinking caps to better address these issues, expect to hear about many new procedures, including the corset trunkplasty. This new surgery targets above-the-belly-button flab, to recreate an hourglass silhouette in formerly obese women and get rid of love handles in men who have lost massive amounts of weight. This area has been ignored by many traditional body contouring procedures that target the lower abs, buttocks and/or thighs. We will hear more about corset trunkplasty and other innovative body contouring procedures in 2010.

Fat Freezing Heats Up in 2010.

Fat freezing (or cryolipolysis) may give liposuction a run for its money in the coming years. This technology works by freezing fat cells and breaking them down. Zeltiq is in clinical trials now, and results look promising. Stay tuned.

Cohesive Gel Breast Implants Receive FDA Approval.

These so-called “gummy bear implants” have been making their way down the pike for some time, and they just may get the long-awaited FDA nod in 2010. Filled with cohesive silicone gel, these leak-resistant implants – used in Europe and Brazil – are being studied in the United States. Gummy bear implants have the positive attributes of silicone gel, but the gel doesn’t migrate. This is a good thing, because if the shell should fail, the gel wouldn’t leak into surrounding tissue.

Minimally Invasive Cosmetic Procedures Experience Rebirth.

As our economy starts to show signs of life again, more people may opt for cosmetic surgery procedures, reversing the steep decline of the last two years. Don’t expect the numbers to reach their record highs anytime soon, though. There will likely be a slight increase in plastic surgery procedures – especially minimally invasive ones such as injectables that allow people to put off more invasive (and expensive) procedures like face lifts until they really need them (and can better afford them).

Botox Patient: Looking into the crystal ball for 2010 is a post from: Botox Patient

Botox Patient: Botox for excessive underarm sweating

Botox Patient — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 21:48:35 +0000

FDA approved Botox back in 2004 to treat severe and excessive underarm sweating known as primary axillary hyperhidrosis.

The hyperhidrosis procedure was at first meant for those who’s excessive sweating cannot be managed by strong topical agents (treatments that are applied to the surface of the skin) such as prescription antiperspirants. Botox for hyperhidrosis involves the injection of about 20-25 drops of Botox directly into the skin where the sweating problem occurs. Often times, in the span of 48 hours after the hyperhidrosis treatment, some people have shown remarkable results of up to an 80% decrease in excessive sweating in the sweating problem area. In the span of a week later, the sweating problem maybe resolved in a sizeable percentage of the people. Bad odor coming from excessive sweating of course also disappears as the two are like the conjoined twins of the sweating world. Cutting one sweating problem away will invariably lead to the death of the other in most cases.

The hyperhidrosis treatment has a few killer drawbacks. It is cost prohibitive as the procedure is quite a bit more then the average person can afford. Furthermore, to add to the cost, Botox for hyperhidrosis, is a temporary fix. Yes, you read that correctly. The hyperhidrosis procedure has to be repeated in 6-12 months for the maintenance of the sweating problem. There have also been heavier sweating in other areas after the treatment for excessive sweating. This sweating ‘karma effect’ has been reported often by patients of the hyperhidrosis procedure.

Another limitation of the Botox is that it can only really be applied to the armpits or underarm area as a solution for sweating. For example, with palm sweating or palmar hyperhidrosis, Botox is really too painful of a procedure to be practical. The discomfort of the process of the hyperhidrosis treatment in other areas of the body confines the procedure to the armpit area. So painful is it in other areas, most doctors will not even list it as an option for other areas of the body that excessively sweat.

Botox Patient: Botox for excessive underarm sweating is a post from: Botox Patient

Botox: Single use?

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:24:36 +0000

Is your medical spa using a new vial of Botox for every patient?

If your medical spa is using a new vial of Botox for every patient, yours will be the first medical spa or cosmetic practice of any kind that I've ever know to do so.

Here's a story from the Las Vegas Review Journal that specifically points out Botox as a 'contributor' to an outbreak of hepatitis C. Of course, if you read the story you'll see that some nurses were observerd 'reusing needles' that contaminated vials of Botox. A very different cause indeed from just using the Botox on multiple patients.

And of course, there's the cost, which almost every medical spa mentioned in the story. (You'd have to get all of your Botox from Canada to afford that.)

Single-use Botox vials used on more than one patient.

That practice at the Endoscopy Center of Southern Nevada, public health officials have repeatedly said, contributed to the hepatitis C outbreak in the Las Vegas Valley.

A phone call to inquire about the cost of a Botox party was greeted with this information: "It will be cheaper if all the partiers use the same vial."

One business that seems to be going well in Las Vegas is known for throwing Botox parties. That's an ongoing phenomenon across the country where friends get together and drink champagne while their wrinkles are needled away.

"We just couldn't handle it financially," said one medical assistant who asked to remain anonymous. "We would have gone out of business."

Medical assistants at two different spas said their owners only stopped multipatient use of single-use vials of Botox "until things quieted down" after the hepatitis outbreak was announced.

The Review-Journal had little trouble finding medical providers who said they and their companies knowingly broke state and federal regulations.

"You can't have doctors worrying about breaking the law or guidelines or whatever," Niamtu said.

A new company called Dysport is manufacturing a similar product, and the competition could force Allergan to provide smaller dosage vials to physicians who want them, he said.

Now a federal lawsuit filed in California by Las Vegas physician Ivan Goldsmith argues that sales representatives for Allergan Inc., maker of the popular anti-wrinkle drug Botox, promote multipatient use of its 50-unit or 100-unit single-use vials.

Goldsmith's lawsuit alleges that doctors can only make a profit using Botox if they reuse the single-use vials that the drug comes in.

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Botox: Single use? is a post from: Botox Patient

Allergan’s Botox profit.

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:24:26 +0000

Allergan Inc (AGN.N) on Thursday said its quarterly profit rose, as sales of anti-wrinkle drug Botox rebounded from an earlier slump and helped offset lower sales of medical devices.

The company’s third-quarter earnings increased 8 percent to $179 million, or 58 cents per share, compared with $165 million, or 54 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding special items, Allergan earned 70 cents per share. Analysts on average expected 69 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company’s shares were up 1.2 percent at $54.20 in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Allergan said global sales rose 4.2 percent to $1.13 billion in the quarter, somewhat higher than analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion.

Sales of Botox rose about 3 percent to $328 million, following declines in earlier quarters that the company had attributed to waning use of cosmetic procedures during the economic downturn.

For full-year 2009, Allergan forecast earnings of $2.75 to $2.77 per share, excluding special items, compared with Wall Street expectations of $2.75 per share.

The company said it expects full-year sales of $4.35 billion to $4.4 billion, compared with Wall Street forecasts of $4.32 billion. (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Dave Zimmerman)

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Allergan’s Botox profit. is a post from: Botox Patient

Medical Spa Botox

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:23:45 +0000

From Medical Spa MD: Understanding Botox & Injectables. Injectable products are an important contributing factor to your clinic’s financial success. With new products entering the market like Dysport and Evolence, and other exiting like ArteFill, it is important that your staff be knowledgeable of the products used in injectable procedures.

Although this chapter from the Advanced Medical Aesthetics Training Manual wasn’t actually requested in the training manual I wrote for the academy students, I felt it was extremely important for , especially for medical estheticians, to know the difference amongst the various treatments used to alleviate the appearance of wrinkles and folds, and the difference between dynamic and static lines.

Medical estheticians have the most “face time” with clients, examining it with magnifying lenses, treating it with exfolliants, moisturizers, galvanic current, high frequency, various acids, etc. They understand the realm of fine lines and wrinkles and know what can be alleviated with topical treatments such as facials, peels, microdermabrasion and laser resurfacing, and what cannot.

I cannot tell you how many patients call or come into our office with no knowledge of the difference between paralyzing agents such as Botox and Dysport, and dermal fillers. We take it for granted that we know the difference, but injectable products can be very confusing to the lay person. Because the aesthetician works with the client’s skin, they should be well versed in the differences in the two categories of injectables and the products that lie within. Estheticians become your most powerful education source for your clients which ultimately leads to an upsell for them (with possible commission).

Many people think all fillers products are the same, nor do they care to understand the difference between hyaluronic acid or calcium hydroxylapetite. All they truly care about is “how long will it last” and will the “results look fake”. Only with proper education can the medical esthetician effectively and intelligently discuss the differences in the filler products, educate the patient about the effects and lasting results, and help lead the patient to the right product, or combination of products, for their expected outcome.

This information in this chapter is very important for your front desk/phone people as well!

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Medical Spa Botox is a post from: Botox Patient

Bootox? Botox & Restylane injections for women’s high heels.

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:22:46 +0000

I came across this article from Australia on Botox and Restylane being injected in womens feet.

IT'S the subject of whispered conversations over cocktails deep within Flemington's Birdcage. The secret weapon a flock of fashionistas rely upon to teeter upon 10cm stilettos all day long at the races.

Botox and filler injections for the feet are the latest crazes in cosmetic surgery to make their way to Flemington – and the solution, according those with cash to splash, to the old racing conundrum of how to wear those towering pumps and not end up carrying them home after the final race has been run.

For about $1500, some doctors, such as Bondi-based cosmetic surgeon Michael Zacharia, will inject hyaluronic acid (Restylane) into the balls of the feet.

The fluid, commonly injected into joints to treat osteoarthritis, numbs the parts of the foot that become strained by wearing sky-high heels.

And judging by the height of the footwear that was racing out the door of Melbourne boutique Miss Louise yesterday, 10cm heels will indeed be spotted around the Birdcage today.

Dr Zacharia, who has been doing the procedure for just over a year, said the foot filling provided "internal padding for the feel at that point of pressure underneath the balls of the feet. Instead of using those silicon pads inside your shoes, this is an internal way of doing it."

The procedure, however, is a lot more expensive than purchasing a pair of silicon inner-soles. At $750 per foot, the fillers will last for about six months.

Dr Zacharia said three or four people this week had told him they wanted the foot fillers for the Spring Racing Carnival, but he warned those considering the treatment that the sensation immediately following the injections could be uncomfortable.

"I've been told that for about 10 minutes afterwards it feels like you are walking with marbles in your feet, or it's like there is something in your shoe," he said.

The other procedure women are turning to is "bootox" – having Botox injected into the balls, arches and soles of the feet to paralyse the sweat glands, which Dr Zacharia said would also set you back about $1500.

Australasian College of Podiatric Surgeons president Mark Gilheany said while women might think the procedures were magic solutions to stiletto-fatigue, foot fillers could be masking symptoms of more serious problems.

He warned that for people experiencing a significant amount of pain standing in heels it could be a sign of partially dislocated bones or torn ligaments.

"If you require something of that (surgical) nature then you could have an underlying problem," he said.

"It's not something that is routinely done and I haven't seen any clinical trials to say whether the injection of a biological cushion into the foot is effective.

"If there was anything that really worked I'm sure I would know about it. It seems like a waste of time when you can stick a cushion in your shoes and take some paracetamol."

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Bootox? Botox & Restylane injections for women’s high heels. is a post from: Botox Patient

Botox around the world

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:16:41 +0000

There's a lot of Botox used around the world from sweating to headaches to wrinkles.

Here's a graphic from a Botox story on CNN.

In the hunt to discover the next blockbuster medical use for Botox, doctors have injected it experimentally into muscles and glands all over the body, making it medicine’s answer to duct tape. According to recent medical journals, physicians have used it to treat chewing problems, swallowing problems, pelvic muscle spasms, drooling, hair loss, anal fissures and pain from missing limbs.

“We see it as a molecule that keeps on giving. As we understand it more, it gives us new ideas of how to use it,” says Dr. Mitchell F. Brin, a neurologist who is the chief scientific officer for Botox at Allergan, the drug’s maker.

No other therapeutic agent “has so many demonstrated uses,” he says.

But some health advocates worry that doctors are widely adopting novel uses for Botox before federal guidance and rigorous clinical studies have established safe and effective dosages for the new treatments.

“It’s trial and error with a nerve poison,” says Dr. Sidney M. Wolfe, the director of the health research group at Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group. Last year, the group petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to require a warning label for injectable toxins.

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Botox around the world is a post from: Botox Patient

Botox Patient: Fake Botox or not, Discount Medspa is going to jail!

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:15:25 +0000

Via an almost unbeliveable story on Wired: Fake Botox or not, Discount Medspa is going to jail!

A website that sells a prescription drug similar to Botox without requiring a prescription claims it has more than 2,000 customers. Some have learned how to inject the botulism-derived drug into their own faces from YouTube videos produced for the site.

Discountmedspa sells a variety of other DIY cosmetic treatments, including prescription Renova, and lip-filling gels. The botulinum toxin-derivative for sale on the site is Dysport, produced by the pharmaceutical company Ipsen and is a competitor of Allergan’s Botox. The site simply calls it “the Freeze.”

A Grand Prairie, Texas, woman, Laurie D’Alleva, who appears to be the site’s proprietor, performs treatments on herself in self-made videos posted to the site’s YouTube channel. In one video, D’Alleva pulls out a vial of what is presumably Dysport and a syringe filled with saline.

“It’s important to remember that you are mixing the potency of the botox,” she says, mixing the contents of the vial with the saline solution. She then injects her forehead and the areas around her eyes.

Ipsen received FDA clearance to sell Dysport in the United States a few months ago, but it’s a prescription medication. It’s the first direct competitor for the branded Botox, which is the most popular cosmetic treatment in America. Doctors did more than 2.4 million Botox procedures in 2008, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery. In recent years, the vast amounts of money spent on the treatment have attracted scams and knockoffs, which the FDA has had to crack down on. In May, the FDA also ruled the drug needed a tougher “black-box” warning label to reflect an increased understanding of the small, but real risks of the treatment.

In the U.S., it is illegal for anyone but a doctor or nurse practitioner to prescribe drugs to patients and only pharmacists can dispense drugs to people. Yet drug sellers on the internet routinely flout the FDA’s regulations. A review published last month in the Annals of Family Medicine found more than 130 websites offering antibiotics without a prescription. The National Association of Boards of Pharmacy tracks thousands of sites that don’t meet its standards for brick-and-mortar shops. LegitScript, a private firm that works with the NABP, has database of 47,633 internet pharmacies; 46,570 of them aren’t up to snuff.

These sites are brazenly circumventing regulations that protect consumers from bad or fake drugs and ensure that the chemicals are used correctly. The laws were designed precisely to prevent Americans with little to no medical training from doing things like buying a form of toxin, mixing it with saline and injecting it into their faces. Yet, precisely that appears to be possible with the help of discountmedspa.com.

Video: The original YouTube video was pulled by DiscountMedSpa on Wednesday, October 28. Wired.com had saved the source and has embedded that video in the story.

In a blog post response to a customer’s skeptical query, Laurie provided the following explanation for the legality of her site and the provenance of her products.

I know there is much information out on the net about fillers and Botox ‘knock-offs’. This is not what I am selling! The products I have are from a company names Ipsen… I have a connection that allows me to get products that are not usually available in the states because I purchase other products in their line. Now the trick is I have to market it and label it under my own brand, to keep them and myself from getting into any legal trouble. It does take a leap of faith, but I assure you I have over 2000 customers now who love the products and are saving literally hundreds of thousands of dollars between us!

“I watched a Doctor on YouTube.com do this to a patient and he warned people not to inject below the eyes however I had to put a smile on my face too,” Lesley commented on a blog post. “The trick to this is to hold a pencil just at the corner of one side of your mouth and inject two units of Freeze at the very bottom of your chin. This will cause your [sic] very end of your mouth to turn up. Then do the other side the same way. If you don’t get it even you may have a crooked smile so be very careful that the injection is placed in exactly the same place as the other side.”

Her recommendation for another user is to “watch YouTube.com and you will learn a lot of some of the Doctors [sic] secrets to recreating your face the way you want to look.”

Other women describe mishaps with over-injecting the drug.

“My Dr. would never inject the crows feet. I did and got GREAT results!” wrote a commenter named Pat. “Unfortunately, I can’t read those little hash marks on the syringe too well and over injected above the brow on one side. A week later I’m now sporting a half closed and swollen eye, and look ready for Halloween!”

the Texas Department of State Health Services released the following statement, but would not comment further.

“The Texas Department of State Health Services is aware of discountmedspa.com through a complaint we received. That complaint status remains open and under review,” the agency wrote.

The complaint was made under the Texas Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, which regulates the sale of prescription drugs like Dysport in the state.

“Botox is a prescription drug that must be dispensed or sold by a licensee pharmacy and only with a prescription from a licensed practitioner. Any over-the-counter sale of Botox is illegal,” the agency affirmed.

Unbelieveable that people could be so dumb as to inject themselves with Botox… or anything else for that matter. Discount Medspa’s owner is definately headed for the slammer.

Side Note: Medical Spa MDs partner site, Medical Spa RX, is a licensed and regulated phamacy that sells wholesale Botox and other fillers exclusively to licensed medical professionals only.

via medicalspamd.com

This was first posted on Medical Spa MD.com. It’s truly amazing what people will do. Injecting yourself in a mirror with Botox has got to be a precursor for the Darwin Awards.

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Botox Patient: Fake Botox or not, Discount Medspa is going to jail! is a post from: Botox Patient

Do it yourself Botox: People are injecting themselves with fake Botox.

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:15:12 +0000

People are risking death or serious injury by using an illegal Botox equivalent without prescription, a CBD cosmetic doctor warns.

Dr Mario Soteriou, of Cosmetic Image Clinics, said self-administering the goods obtained at a new US-based online store was equivalent to playing “Russian roulette”.

He said neither the Botox equivalent nor the dermal filler sold on the website was approved by the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration, which also decrees the products must only be administered under medical prescription.

The website also sells needles and an instructional DVD to enable buyers to self-administer the do-it-yourself Botox equivalent, with the promise of wrinkle free skin.

The dermal filler is also being marketed with a DIY guide for plump lips.

Dr Soteriou, who has specialised in cosmetic medicine since 2000, said he was “severely shocked” by the shonky website.

He said injectable treatments such as Botox and dermal filler should only be administered by qualified practitioners.

“The big problem with these drugs is that we don’t know what they are made of and they can’t guarantee you safety or results,” Dr Soteriou said. “Self-administering them is essentially like making a life decision without putting any thought into it.

“I wouldn’t even advocate for doctors and nurses to be injecting themselves.

“You are also risking your own death if you have an adverse or severe allergic reaction to the drugs.”

Dr Soteriou believes the website is a “money grab” and fuels people’s desperate desires for quick-fix anti-ageing products.

“I’ve never heard of these products before and I attend a lot of medical conferences to ensure I’m up-to-date with the latest in facial rejuvenation techniques,” he said.

via Medical Spa MD: Fake Botox or not, Discount Medspa is going to jail!

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Do it yourself Botox: People are injecting themselves with fake Botox. is a post from: Botox Patient

Dysport: The New Botox?

Botox Patient — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:13:54 +0000

Dysport is often called the “New Botox.” However, Dypsort has actually been available in Europe for therapeutic indications since 1991 and for cosmetic applications since 2001. In April 2009, Dysport (officially known as BoNT-A/D) was approved in the United States for the “temporary improvement in the appearance of moderate to severe glabellar lines.” These are the lines between your eyebrows. However, just like Botox Cosmetic, Dysport can be used “off-lable” for treatment of crow’s feet (squinting lines around your eyes), forehead wrinkles, chemical brow lifts, platysmal bands (neck bands) and sweaty palms and armpits.

The molecule in Dysport is exactly like Botox Cosmetic but is covered by a different coating, which dissociates (dissolves) at a different rate. That is why the onset of action of Dysport is thought to be faster than Botox Cosmetic since the coating comes off faster. In Botox Cosmetic Treatment the usual onset of action is 3 to 7 days where the Dysport onset of action seems to be a few days faster. The dosing is different with Dysport, so there may be some confusion when translating Botox “units” with Dysport “units.” This is why you need to see an injector who has experience specifically in Dysport injections. Also, there is a learning curve with Dysport injections, so you may not initially achieve the same results as you are used to receiving with Botox Cosmetic.

There is also some confusion about the pricing of Dysport with many reports on the Internet and advertising claiming that it is cheaper than Botox Cosmetic. There is a discrepancy in the potency of units. A “unit” of Botox is not equivalent to a “unit” of Dysport, so unit pricing is not comparable. There is a slight savings with Dysport, but it is about 5% – nothing substantial. So, do not expect to go to your plastic surgeon to achieve the same results as Botox Cosmetic for half the price. However, with competition, hopefully prices will come down. Allergan (Botox Cosmetic) is currently offering a $50 mail-in rebate for Botox Cosmetic customers and Medicis Aesthetics (Dysport) is offering a $75 mail-in rebate. With these rebates and introductory pricing, you may be able to get a better deal than your last injection.

In the end, it is great to have another minimally invasive product approved on the market which can give consistent and noticeable results with virtually no downtime and minimal risks.

via Medical Spa RX: Dysport

Botox Patient: Posted from Laser Treatment MD

Dysport: The New Botox? is a post from: Botox Patient