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Regular Botox treatments may lead to a decline in unwanted expressions

In patients who regularly used onabotulinum toxin A for more than 5 years, the number of days between treatments for glabellar and crow’s feet lines increased over 22 treatments, according to new data.

In the international, multicenter retrospective chart review, data were collected from 194 patients who received a total of 5,112 Botox (onabotulinum toxin A, Allergan) treatments.

Alastair Carruthers

The annual dose for glabellar lines decreased with increasing years of treatment, with the largest change occurring in the first three years. Researchers found a 9% decrease in average dose over time.

The number of days between onabotulinum toxin A injections for glabellar lines increased from around 129 days to 176 days over the course of 22 treatments. For crow feet’s lines, the number of days also increased between treatments, from 136 to 209 days, over 22 treatments.

The most common area for treatment was glabellar lines, followed closely by crow’s feet lines, then forehead lines, lower face and bunny lines.

Most patients (85%) received treatment with fillers. A total of 111 patients began treatment around 38 months after their first Botox treatment.

As for the patient-reported outcomes, 89.6% reported looking younger than their current age. Mean perceived age was around 6.9 years younger than their actual age, which improved with increasing number of years of Botox treatment.

For patients younger than 50 years, 98.3% were very satisfied or mostly satisfied, 91.9% for patients 50 to 59 years and 87.8% for those 60 years or older.-by Abigail Sutton

Disclosure: Carruthers is a consultant for and has received research grants from Allergan, Inc. (Irvine, CA). Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.