Hair Restoration Blog

Q:

Hello, I am having my third hair transplant in a few weeks by Dr. X in Las Vegas. My 2nd time I experienced a very wide scar. I researched about using Botox to lessen the width. My doctor and I ordered Botox but would like information regarding the area to which inject it. On the scar itself? Around it? How many cc’s? I would truly appreciate the info.

Thank you.

A:

The use of BOTOX injection into the donor area to prevent stretching of the scar is a relatively new concept that has been recently introduced to hair transplant surgery.  The research has not been done on a large number of patients yet.  It mainly compared the effect of injection of BOTOX on the width of the donor scar on one side to the other side in post hair transplant surgery follow up visits.  Because of the shortage of the number of experimented cases it is hard to conclude what is the best dose for BOTOX injection in and around the donor wound.

As we previously mentioned in this blog, Botox Can Reduce Widening of Hair Transplant Scars by reducing the pulling effect of the muscles on the edges of the healing wound.   Botox helps minimize tension on the edges of the healing wound until collagen matures and the scar forms completely.

The same goes for the timing and more studies need to be done to compare the optimum required units of BOTOX needed to provide the best result.  The BOTOX dose stays within the scope of practice of the individual surgeon and may change based on the length and size of the hair transplant donor scar.  The time for injection should not be within the first week when there is acute inflammatory reaction from the surgery and it should also be repeated in 4 months when the muscles tend to gain their strength back.

Tags: Botox, colagen, donor scar, hair transplant, hair transplant surgeon, wound maturation

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 at 7:15 pm and is filed under complications, hair loss, hair transplant surgeon, hair transplant surgery, scar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.