You already knew that Botox is great for wrinkles. But how about Botox for acne?! Well, why not? Botox has been used for everything over the past 10 years….

* smoothing the forehead
* relaxing the “frown lines” above the nose and between the eyebrows
* erasing crow’s feet
* reshaping the eyebrows, especially increasing or decreasing the arching of the brows
* getting rid of “bunny lines” on the sides of the nose
* lifting the corners of the mouth (to soften sad frowns)
* minimizing the “pebbliness” of the chin
* diminishing the banding of the neck muscles
* minimizing sweating in the arm pits, hands, and feet

And, yes, a recent report published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology suggests that Botox can effectively treat acne too. Seventeen of twenty patients treated with Botox into the skin noticed that…

* their skin was less oily
* their pores were smaller
* their acne improved

Will Botox become a standard treatment for acne? Maybe, but I doubt it. Certainly, in the near future, the first line treatments for acne will remain…

* benzoyl peroxide creams
* oral antibiotics, such as doxycycline

And, for resistant, severe acne cases, physicians will still prescribe…

* salicylic acid peels
* light therapy
* Accutane

The issues which will make it unlikely that Botox will be widely utilized for acne are…

* Botox is an injectable agent, and youthful acne patients may be uncomfortable with the use of needles (even very fine needles, with anesthetic creams).

* Botox is a potent muscle relaxant. Could some of the Botox migrate to important muscles of facial expression? Could the teenage patient’s skin become too smooth–no acne but no facial expression either??

* Apparently, it is technically difficult to inject Botox into the very superficial skin layers of the skin–to minimize the chances that the muscles will be over-relaxed. Many dermatologists and plastic surgeons have injected thousands of patients, so they have the necessary skills. However, there are many more physicians who treat acne than who have vast experience with Botox.

* Botox is currently not FDA approved for acne treatment. Hence, the makers of Botox will not be able to market their product for that indication.

* Likewise, without an FDA approval, insurance companies may not reimburse physicians and patients for Botox acne treatments.

On the other hand, topical forms of botulinum neurotoxin type-A (to be marketed as Topical Toxin) are in development. So, needles might be avoided altogether.

Also, the Topical Toxin is not supposed to penetrate too deeply. Could it, therefore, be less likely to produce inadvertant muscle relaxation? Might teenagers still have more dynamic faces than the nightly newscasters?

If a topical form of Botox is available, then issues about physician expertise become less important. While only a handful of dermatologists and plastic surgeons are truly great Botox injectors, any doctor can spread on a cream.

And, if the initial research remains promising, I suppose that the definitive research for the FDA approval could always be obtained.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed!

Medi-spas can treat everything from cellulite to acne, and use all sorts of treatments like botox, body sculpting, chemical peels, and facials. They are very convenient and relaxing ways to improve your body’s health and appearance in a few short hours.

Cellulite Reduction

Cellulite is that unwanted look of cottage cheese bumps along fatty deposits on the body. It is caused by bulging fat cells but it is not medically dangerous, just ugly!

You can have a cellulite reduction package at a medi-spa that involves treatments that can separate your fat cells from each other, improve the body’s ability to get rid of toxins that contribute to cellulite, and allow your connective tissues to stretch and stabilize.

The most common applications are body wraps and liposuction and creams. It is important to realize however, that it may not be possible to completely eliminate cellulite.

Botox

For those looking to give their faces younger, fresher looking skin, with reduced appearance of wrinkles and fine lines, a medical spa often offers the option of botox injections. Botox is a chemical that comes from the botulinum toxin and essentially paralyzes the muscles that create deep facial wrinkles. It takes less than a half hour and does not involve any incisions or even any recovery period.

A cosmetic professional simply injects botox under your facial skin where you would like to see wrinkle-improvement and no anesthesia is required. The results can last up to 3 or 4 months long, but more treatments are done for longer-lasting results. Botox is especially effective in reducing the look of furrow lines between the brows, and is relatively inexpensive.

Body Sculpting

If you are looking for a more extensive redefinition of your body, a medical spa can often provide you with body contouring procedures. This includes several operations to create a new, more sculpted appearance. One operation commonly included in body sculpting is liposuction. This targets especially stubborn patches of fat and gets rid of them by sucking the fat out with a small liposuction tube called a cannula.

Tummy Tucks or abdominoplasty surgeries are common. This procedure means removing extra, sagging skin around the tummy and tighten the abdominal muscles, leaving you with a tighter, leaner looking torso. Other forms of body sculpting include body lifts in the legs, buttocks, or arms, and breast and body implants.

Chemical Peels

Chemical peels are popular options for those looking for softer, fresher looking skin. It involves allowing a chemical solution to eat away the uppermost layers of the skin, revealing new, fresh, undamaged skin. Chemical peels can reduce the look of blemishes, wrinkles, and can sometimes improve skin pigmentation.

Facials

Medi-spas are a great place to get facials, a skin treatment that exfoliates and cleans your skin. During this process the trained professional cleans your facial skin, looks at it closely under very bright lights, uses a steam vapor on your face while exfoliates the top layers, removes blackheads, massages your face and applies a cosmetic, nourishing mask to treat your skin type. Facials are inexpensive and can give the face a rejuvenated look and feel.