Botox injections are useful in healing facial wounds and leave a minimal amount of scars behind, according to a new study in the August issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
The small study included 31 patients. Among them some had surgery of the face to remove skin cancers, while others had wounds on the forehead. This area of the face is very susceptible to scarring. The researchers either injected Botox or saline one day after wound closure.
At the time of the injections, researchers took photographs of the involved area of the face. After six months, the area was again photographed and these images were reviewed by two independent facial plastic surgeons. They were asked to rate the healing on a scale of 0 to 10, with the latter being the best result.
Wounds injected with Botox were rated 8.9, while those with saline were rated 7.1. The scores were arrived at after combining both the experts' scores and averaging them.
"This is the first medication found to minimize scarring," said lead author Dr. David Sherris, of the University at Buffalo. "The result is of substantial interest in the field of scar treatment. When a wound occurs, especially on the face, people are always worried about the scar. We can now try to improve scars with these injections." The study received funds from Mayo Clinic.
