SoFla Doc: 'Do-It-Yourself Botox' a No-No
Best to leave facial injections to experts: Dermatologist
.Dr. Tracy Favreau, an attending dermatologist at Nova Southeastern University, says stay away from "Do-It-Yourself Botox" kits.
While some cost-conscious consumers are turning to "Do-It-Yourself Botox" kits in these tough economic times, South Florida experts say those kits could cost you your life.
Dr. Tracy Favreau, an attending dermatologist at Nova Southeastern University, says buying and using one of those kits comes with dangerous risks.
"For a patient to buy a kit like that and just think that if there's an instruction sheet that they can use to inject the muscles of the face for facial expression, it's a catastrophe waiting to happen," Favreau said.
One kit purchased by NBC Miami for $152 contained a 100 unit vial of what's purported to be filled with the bacterium that's supposed to soften frown lines. The kit included alcohol prep pads, a numbing creme, two syringes and two vials, one of which is the supposed Botox.
In addition to a how-to DVD, the kit had two instruction sheets, including the directions and a facial chart to show how and where the injections should be made.
"A lot of them are from India, China, third world countries," Favreau said of the kits. "There's actually some that were made in Arizona in a bootleg Botox lab, with horrible results, almost killing people."
Under federal law, no form of Botulinum toxin may be commercially distributed for use on humans unless approved by the FDA. Botox, Dysport and Xeomin are the only three approved for cosmetic use.
Favreau says the risks are too high with one of the kits.
"Paralysis of one side of your face, so it droops, they can get ptosis of eye, which is a common complication, they can get an abscess, a really bad infection that will worsen from that, a really bad staph infection," she said.
Favreau advises that the best way to make sure you're getting the real thing, even in a doctor's office, is to ask questions.
"You have to be a good detective, no doctor should be afraid to tell you exactly how to prove that this is an FDA-approved Botox," she said.
The price is also a good indicator. Any drug that claims to be Botox that sells for less than $9 a unit should be a red flag, since doctors charge on average $15 a unit. The kit NBC Miami purchased online charged less than $2 a unit.
Posted Tuesday, Sep 13, 2011 - 7:55 AM EST
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