Infonurses Overseas

Does Botox Actually Rejuvenate Skin?

THURSDAY, May 21, 2015 (HealthDay News) -- Botox injections might do more than simply paralyze facial muscles to create a more youthful appearance. New research suggests the anti-aging treatments may also turn back the clock on facial skin itself, aiding its ability to stretch and recoil.

Botox treatment seems to promote production of elastin and collagen, a pair of proteins that make young skin tight, firm and flexible, said lead author Dr. James Bonaparte, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon and an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada.

"We found if we treat people with Botox using standard techniques, we see an increase in elasticity, which is what you'd see in people with more youthful skin," Bonaparte said. "We're actually seeing evidence that we, for some reason, are getting more elastin and collagen in the skin."

As people age, repeated facial expressions wrinkle the face, Bonaparte said. At the same time, levels of elastin and collagen decline in the skin, causing it to sag. These two factors contribute to facial aging.

Botox is made from the same bacterial toxin that causes botulism -- onabotulinum toxin A -- and is used to smooth out skin by paralyzing facial muscles, explained Dr. Scot Glasberg, a New York City plastic surgeon and president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.

However, some experts had noted that skin treated with Botox also appeared to regain some elasticity and pliability -- an effect not fully explained by the paralyzing of facial muscles, Bonaparte said.

To examine this more closely, Bonaparte and his colleagues gave 48 women, average age 55, their first-ever Botox injections, treating the skin between the eyebrows and around the eyes. They then followed the women for four months to see how the injections affected the skin.

They found that the Botox increased the stretchiness and elastic recoil of the women's faces, causing changes in composition that mimicked more youthful skin. The researchers found the effect was similar to radiofrequency skin tightening, an aesthetic procedure that uses radio waves to heat skin tissue and stimulate collagen production.