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New Treatments to Chase Away Wrinkles, Frowns
Injectible serums promise better, longer-lasting results, doctors say
By Janice Billingsley
HealthDay Reporter
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FRIDAY, Sept. 19 (HealthDayNews) -- For years, Botox and collagen have been the treatments of choice for women and men looking to banish unwanted wrinkles and frown lines.
But a new generation of safer, better, longer-lasting skin smoothers is set to join the arsenal of aging Americans -- think baby boomers -- who are eager to look as young as they feel.
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Three new anti-wrinkle serums that are injected into the skin are nearing U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval. And a fourth isn't far behind, doctors reported Wednesday at a New York City conference sponsored by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
All four treatments are already approved for use in Europe.
"There has been continual improvement in the science," said Dr. James Wells, president of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). "We know more about allergic reactions, surgical techniques have improved, and we have more outpatient surgery, which is safer."
The benefits to the patients are that the new products last longer and are therefore more cost-effective. And their efficacy delays the need for more invasive surgeries like facelifts, he said.
Currently, injections of Botox -- a form of botulism toxin -- and collagen -- the main protein of connective tissue -- are the most common methods to smooth away wrinkles. Botox paralyzes the facial muscles that are normally used in squinting, thereby reducing wrinkling. And collagen injections replace collagen lost in the aging process, helping to plump up wrinkles. The effects last for about three months with Botox and up to six months with collagen. Last year 1.5 million Americans underwent these procedures, both of which have FDA approval, according to the ASPS.
The new products are better not only because their chemical components reduce the risk of allergic reaction, but their effects last longer, too, the doctors say.
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Copyright © 2003 ScoutNews, LLC. All rights reserved.
Last updated 9/19/2003
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SOURCES: James Wells, M.D., president, American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Arlington Heights, Ill.; Caroline Glicksman, M.D., plastic surgeon, Sea Girt, N.J.; Miles Graivier, M.D. plastic surgeon, Roswell, Ga.; Gottfried Lemperle, M.D., Ph.D., clinical professor, Division of Plastic Surgery, University of California, San Diego;
Z. Paul Zorenc, M.D., plastic surgeon, assistant professor of plastic surgery, New York University School of Post Graduate Medicine, New York City; Sept. 17, 2003, meeting of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, New York City
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