New Study: Facial Surgical Scars No More

Botox Treatment After Facial Surgery?

If you are to undergo a reconstructive surgery of the face, it is not unusual to worry about possible facial scarring. If it happens, what are you to do? Comes now a welcome solution out of a clinical trial published in the issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery®, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). The study claims that with botox or botulinum toxin A (BTX-A), the compound known as an anti-wrinkle treatment, can help improve the appearance of facial surgical scars.

According to ASPS statistics, Botox treatment is the most common cosmetic procedure in the US with about 7 million such procedures performed in 2016 alone. This new study may very well add to BTX-A’s many clinical applications beyond its cosmetic use in treating facial lines and wrinkles. This study shows that early post-surgical botulinum toxin injections can produce better, narrower, and flatter facial surgical scars.

The study is quite small. Over a four-month duration, 16 patients underwent facial plastic and reconstructive surgery at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine. Patients averaged 12 years of age for surgery of some type of disfiguring facial birthmark, such as a melanocytic nevus or port wine stain. In each patient, half of the facial scar was randomly assigned to treatment with BTX-A or inactive saline (placebo) solution, injected immediately at the end of surgery.

What role did BTX-A play in the process of scar formation?

Botox induced temporary muscular paralysis that decrease movement and stress around a healing wound, it was speculated. In the absence of tension, facial scars did not widen, and prevented hypertrophy and hyperpigmentation. Previous studies also have suggested that BTX-A might inhibit fibroblast and mediators involved in scar formation. While it’s good news, this study has its limitation and needs further conclusive research.

The Go-To Place for Botox in Tacoma

Over at Botixue in Tacoma, we use the widely accepted and approved indications of Botox. However, it’s great that another beneficial indication is in the works.