Nov 15, 2006 12:06 am US/Eastern
Surgeons Turning To Botox To Fix Ugly Scars
New Study Says Immediate Treatment Nets Good Results
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
Botox may be the solution to make a long-time scar, or potential scar, virtually disappear.
It can be from an accident.
"It was a pretty big gash," patient Claire Smithers said. "It was pretty nasty."
Or from an operation that just never healed right.
"I figured why not give it a try with the Botox?" patient Lynne Gino said. "Nothing to lose ya know."
A small study by Mayo Clinic researchers recently found that if a facial wound is treated early with Botox there will be less of a scar later on.
One New York City plastic surgeon said he's been using Botox that way for years.
"The basic mechanism of Botox is that it gets muscles to relax," surgeon Michael A.C. Kane said. "So if you can relax the muscles around the cut there's less tension on the cut so it heals better."
As a cut or injury heals, the muscles may pull on the wound causing inflammation and ultimately a thicker, wider scar.
Last summer, Gino had two operations on the same day for a parathyroid condition.
"I thought we were gonna need a third operation on her neck to straighten out this scar but actually just the Botox alone really has thinned out and flattened down that scar," Dr. Kane said.
Added Gino: "I could always put a necklace over it, but now I don't have to feel confined to anything on my neck."
Dr. Kane's other patient said she inadvertently realized Botox was helping a scar she got from a car accident more than 20 years ago.
"I really was doing the cosmetic kind of thing and then over time I realized that it was fading," Smithers said.
Her before and after pictures show the difference Botox can make.
In general, a scar take about seven days to fully form.
So if you want to smooth out a scar, it's probably best to use Botox within the first week.
Botox paralyzes muscles. That's how it works for wrinkles. So if a scar is close to, say, the eye or mouth -- the injection could cause droopiness in those areas.
But that side effect is temporary. The paralysis should disappear in a month or two.
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