Ive had botox in the forehead 3 weeks ago, can I go under a sunbed?

What do you want, melanoma?  I don't care what BS the sunbed people give you about how much healthier their machines are than tanning in the sun.  These beds irradiated you with high levels of ultraviolet light.  These wavelengths cause skin cancer.  Will a little sun inactivate your BOTOX: no.  Should you go out and tan in the sun-no not really.  If you need a golden glow, get a spray tan.  These do not cause cancer.  Are we clear?

There were a few questions posed:

Despite the issue of the tanning bed not affecting your Botox treatments, the passionate response from the panel members is to avoid this practice for health concerns as well as the issue of premature aging.  We agree with this inasmuch as current research confirms an alarming rate of melanoma cases directly associated with tanning beds.

We recommend that you return to your practitioner to be evaluated for your concerns with a drooping brow.  In this way, the injector may be able to offer feedback and use this information for future treatments.

The effects of the Botox (negative and positive) will gradually wear off as time passes - approx. 3-6 months.

Lastly, you mentioned undergoing three separate treatments in a short amount of time over three treatments.  It is recommended that you avoid numerous, small treatments as this continued practice may lead to a resistance to the product.  Also, this is not the best use of your time.

Asking dermatologists whether it's ok to to back to the artificial UV radiation box after your Botox treatment is going to get you some strong responses. The reason you have wrinkles in the first place is lifelong radiation damage to the collagen and elastin underlying your skin, caused by sun exposure (and smoking if you are a smoker). If you are going to invest money in Botox and maintaining a youthful look, use another tool to lift your mood (exercise?) and give your skin a glow (bronzer, self tanner?).  Be smart!

While there is nothing about Botox that would make the sunbed more of a problem, sunbeds really are bad enough without any help. In terms of wrinkles, Botox makes them better and uv exposure makes them worse. Think of losing a bunch of weight exercising then gaining it all back eating junk food- just doesn't make sense. A brow drop from botox will lessen over time, but you may need a more specific pattern of injection to avoid that next time.

Although the tanning beds should have no effect on your Botox, they have been shown to  increase the risk of skin cancer formation. I would not recommend their use. 

You may resume most regular activities several hours or a day after your Botox injection. This includes going to the sun bed, if that is your choice. However, exposure to the harmful uv light of the tanning beds will cause your skin to age prematurely and be at higher risk for developing skin cancers such as melanoma. If you go to the sun bed to attain a nice healthy color, I would respectfully urge to search local salons or spas where they can do a nice professional job of spray self tanning. In fact, a self tan will also keep your skin looking youthful; it automatically confers it an SPF of 2 to 4, which means it blocks between 50 to 75% of harmful sun rays. I hope this information is useful. Good luck, Dr. Bowes

I agree with my wise and wonderful colleague Dr Solish that although the tanning bed will not affect the botox treatment, it will accelerate the aging process in your skin, as well as increase your risk for skin cancer, and is not recommended.

The botox effect will wear off, but you might consider seeing your doctor back, both so they can make a note for the next time they treat you and also, they may consider adding a touch of botox at the near and far corners of the brows which may offer a little lift and help improve that droopy or heavy feeling you're experiencing.

First if you brows are low it will take weeks to wear off a bit and you may want to lower your dose next time a bit.  Secondly tanning beds are not something i woul ever recommend.  They will age your skin dramatically not to mention increase the rish of skin cancer

All of my colleagues answers say the same thing, "dont use sunbeds."  Then why in the world are there suntanning parlors on every corner?  Americans are too anxious to appear tanned and too easily fooled by the advertisements.  The problem is that most of the users are young, when the skin is most succeptible to the dangerous rays.

There are not a lot of things that we all can do to prevent skin cancer.  We cant change our skin color, we cant change our eye color, we cant change our genetics.  But we certainly can limit the amount of sun exposure and AVOID tanning beds.

The FDA recently helped the consumer in their selection of sunsreens. Look for a high SPF sunscreen (now they will only be labelled up to 50+) and look for the phrase "broad spectrum." This will protect against both the UVB rays and the UVA rays (yup, the same rays that come out of that sunbed.)

People who smoke and people who get excessive ultraviolet radiation end up with a certain appearance to their skin that is generally considered unattractive. Be Smart, DONT USE A SUNBED.

There should be problem with you using a sunbed after having Botox injections other than the dangers from the UV exposure.