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Can Botox Cause Acne?

I have had several treatments of low dose accutane as a teenager. Recently, at the age of 23, I received botox injections in my forehead for migraines and brow treatment. I have never broken out on my forehead before (even as a teenager). Where I received the injections, I am developing puss like papules and painful cysts. I have been using retin-a to see if this will help with the forehead breakouts and nothing seems to work.

I called the reps for botox and they do believe that there is now a correlation between botox and acne - could it be that it is expedited by those have undergone accutane treatments? Or could this be due to the fact that I no longer can sweat out of those pores so they become plugged with toxins? Please help. I have talked to several other people who are experiancing the same symptoms.

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acne acne breakouts side effects

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13 Doctor Answers | Asked by questions please in New York, New York

Doctor Answers (13)
Community Comments (3)

Acne breakout after Botox injection

Hi NYC, Of the hundreds of patients that I have injected with Botox, I have not seen any have acne flare ups related to the treatment. I have seen a handful of patients who have a "pimple" or two at the site of injection. In those patients we now give them prophylactic acne treatment (tetracycline, cleocin) for a few days before and after their injections. I will be interested to hear what other experts experiences have been with this side effect of Botox injections that you... more

Michael A. Persky, MD

21 reviews

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

drpersky.com

BOTOX does not worsen acne!

With all the information that we have on BOTOX so far, there is nothing that suggests worsening of acne with BOTOX. If anything, trials have only shown a positive outcome in patients who had the BOTOX compared to those who had placebo!

Botox Causing Acne

There is no linkage of botox leading to acne that I am aware of. Consult your dermatologist to explore other options. If you can provide the names of the reps that you spoke with and their contact information, I would be happy to explore the subject further with them.

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Botox doesn't cause acne, but worth seeing a dermatologist.

Botox does not cause acne, but there are several reasons you may have developed acne around the Botox area, that can be hard to identify online. For example, if you recently stopped a birth control pill, it can lead to an unexpected acne flareup that might just coincide with your injections. Or if you decided to use more Retin-A recently after not using it for a while, and are using too much, this can also lead to an acne flare, ironically. Please see a board-certified dermatologist... more

Acne and Botox injections - Cure for acne?

A recent study showed that Botox injections can actually be used to treat patients with acne. This approach is very costly and is not a first line treatment, of course.

Botox and acne

I have never heard of Botox causing acne, although that would be interesting to research a bit further. Interesting that the rep has heard this before. The flare up may have no correlation with the Botox treatment.

Steven Wallach, MD

13 reviews

Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Botox does not cause acne.

Botox is a powerful and effective medicine that works by entering the muscles and relaxing them. It is injected under the level of the skin and into the muscle. I have heard of no causal connection between Botox and acne.

Botox with possibly contaminated needle.

Hi. Botox does not cause acne in anybody, that's for sure. I honestly don't know what happened to you. It is possible that the needle was accidentally contaminated, and so you got an infection at each injection point. If that's what it is, it will go away.

Acne from Botox

We have not seen or read of any link between Botox and Accutane. In addition, Accutane works by shrinking the sebaceous (oil) glands. Using Botox and/or Accutane would not prevent you from sweating out of these glands. We would suggest going back to the physician that injected you or visiting your primary care physician to address this issue. We do not believe it is related to the Botox.

Harold J. Kaplan, MD

4 reviews

Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.celibre.com

Botox and Acne

Botox is not generally known to cause Acne. In fact there are some reports that Botox can actually improve the Acne. The mechanism of this effect on the sebaceous glands is not known but maybe similar to the effect Botox has on the sweat glands

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Comments (3)

Pugtoelick
9 months ago

I have experienced cysts at the Botox injection site. At first, I chalked it up to coincidence. I did ask my doctor after the second time and like below, the doc response was that it was not related, but made sure to clean my face really well. After the third Botox treatment, It's definitely related. I've gotten one in between my eyes twice, ouch. The cysts were worse than the wrinkles so I've quit getting Botox.

CHRIS IS IL
9 months ago

I myself received a acne nodule/cyst from botox at the injection site and directly above it. I never had it before and nothing it removing them. It is horrible. I really think there needs to be more warnings and info out there. Based on my own research this is happening. These cysts are very diifficult to remove. If they dont respond to treatment they have to be surgically removed and your face is not the place to be doing that.

Bumpy17
5 months ago

Yes. me two. Right between my eyes at injection site. Hurts . never came to head. Still there. I called Allergan and reported. Drs won't .

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