In the News – More Circumstantial Evidence of Hair Growth from Botox

Snippet from the article:

Mean hair counts rose and mean hair loss slowed after injections of botulinum toxin A.

Botulinum toxin A (BTX A) has been used for the treatment of wrinkles, hyperhidrosis, and headaches. Now, here comes an open-label pilot study from Canada of BTX A to treat androgenic alopecia. The study was supported by an educational grant from the manufacturer, and the authors hold intellectual property rights to the treatment process.

Fifty males with Norwood/Hamilton alopecia classes II to IV had injections to the scalp muscles (divided equally to the frontalis, temporalis, periauricular, and occipitalis) of a total of 150 units of BTX A, followed by a second session 24 weeks later. Assessment included change in hair counts in a 2-cm scalp area, changes in hair loss counts collected by lint roller from the subject’s pillow, and patient responses to a questionnaire. The 60-week study period consisted of a 12-week baseline lead-in period and two 24-week treatment periods following each BTX A treatment session.

Read the rest — Growing Hair with Botox

As I wrote a couple weeks ago, I am concerned that there may be a rush to use Botox in balding men and women since this could become a lucrative money machine for the doctor. I’ve been asked if I’d consider offering this as a service, and to be honest, I probably would on the proviso that the patient will allow me to make bulk measurements of the scalp and hair before and after a period of 6 and 12 months. My goal here would be to determine if this approach works or not. With bulk measurements done before the treatment is started, the patient acts like his own control. In this way, this becomes an experiment of sorts and the results would then be made available to the medical and lay community.