I Have Dermatomyositis, Scleroderma & Reynauds. Is Botox Safe? Also Have Spinal Injury.

Question

I have undifferentiated connective tissue disease and though dermatomyositis (gottrons papules on hands, muscle & joint pain, no muscle wasting) has been confirmed, reynauds and scleroderma are also suspected on hands and elbows. Is it safe for me to have botox on my forehead, crows feet and between eyebrows? I have also had 3 spinal operations on my neck and take 40mg omeprazole, 8 x paracetamol, 600mg pre gabalin, 25mg nortriptline daily for nerve pain.

Ron Shelton, MD · Answer

You may benefit nicely from the botox treatment. Have your physician, prior to doing the botox, investigate with the company, Allergan, that none of your medications can interact with the Botox. I would recommend if you do have Botox, to start with one cosmetic unit and see how you tolerate the treatment before undergoing all areas. In this way, you will minimize the number of units of Botox per treatment and ensure you tolerate it well before receiving a higher number of units.

Kevin C. Smith, MD (retired) · Answer

BOTOX&reg; will be fine for you, should help relax overactive muscles causing forehead lines, crows feet and frown lines between you eyebrows.

	Some of my patients who have serious medical problems really appreciate aesthetic treatments, which help them to look and feel as good as possible.

	Did you know that BOTOX&reg; can also be used to treat Raynaud's in the hands and other areas? Some colleagues and I recently published a book chapter on this:

	Botulinum toxin type A (BoNT-A) treatment for Raynaud&rsquo;s and other novel dermatologic therapeutic applications
	Irèn Kossintseva, Benjamin Barankin, and Kevin C. Smith.
	in: BOTULINUM TOXINS IN CLINICAL AESTHETIC PRACTICE
	Second Edition
	Edited by Anthony V. Benedetto  ISBN: 9780415476362 &bull; December 2010

I Have Dermatomyositis, Scleroderma & Reynauds. Is Botox Safe? Also Have Spinal Injury.

Answers (2)