Botox for Depression: New Study Shows Promising Findings

Everyone has heard of Botox, and many know of its amazing benefits outside of aesthetic use.  Botox was first approved for therapeutic use more than three decades ago. It was developed as a treatment for eye muscle disorders like blepharospasm (involuntary blinking) and strabismus (crossed eyes). Over the years, doctors found they could use Botox to treat a variety of health conditions. As the use of Botox has increased over the years, a surprising finding has emerged. People who receive Botox, whether it is for cosmetic reasons or a medical condition, have significantly lower rates of depression.  Furthermore, we here at Village Dermatology have had a myriad of patients over the years that do not have a clinical diagnosis of depression, express a “mood-lifting” benefit after receiving their Botox treatment. So, when this study came out, we were very intrigued to read this information.  This is our attempt at summarizing the information in the study.  If you want to read the entire study, we have provided a link at the bottom of this article.

 Depression: A Global Disease

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), more than 250 million people worldwide suffer from depression. In the United States, major depression is one of the most common mental health disorders. More than 17 million Americans report at least one major depressive episode in the past year, representing roughly 7% of the population.

Depression can result in severe functional impairment. It interferes with a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day activities. Symptoms of depression include sadness, anxiety, and a lack of interest in previously enjoyed activities. Depressed people are often irritable, frustrated, and restless. They may suffer from sleep and appetite disturbances. Feelings of worthlessness, helplessness, and guilt are common. Depression can also lead to trouble with concentration, decision making, and memory.

Due to its profound impact on a person’s health and quality of life, it’s important to recognize and treat depression.

Uses of Botox: Much More Than Facial Rejuvenation

Botox is best known for its use in facial rejuvenation. Botox injections for the treatment of facial wrinkles are the most commonly performed cosmetic procedures in the United States. They’re a safe, FDA-approved treatment to get rid of crow’s feet and frown lines. But what many people don’t know is that Botox is also approved for several medical conditions besides cosmetic use, including:

• Hyperhidrosis (abnormal sweating not related to heat or exercise)
• Migraine prevention
• Neurogenic bladder (lack of bladder control due to nerve problems)
• Overactive bladder (uncontrolled urge to urinate)
• Urinary incontinence (loss of bladder control)
• Spasticity (tight or stiff muscles)

Botox for Depression: Yes, It Works

Over the last decade, several clinical trials and studies have shown that facial Botox injections are very effective in treating depression. However, many doctors remain unconvinced because some of these studies were small. Also, it was not possible to reliably blind the patients (in a double-blind clinical trial, the patient and physician do not know whether the patient is receiving the actual drug versus a placebo). Due to the obvious cosmetic effects of Botox, it hasn’t been possible to conduct a double-blind trial in cosmetic patients.

Moreover, the mechanism by which Botox has an antidepressant effect remains unclear. It is thought that Botox relaxes the “grief muscles” that are used to express negative emotions like sadness, anger, and fear. This breaks the feedback from the face to the brain that reinforces these emotions.

New Study Results: Botox Can Treat Depression

A new study has looked at more than 45,000 clinical reports of adverse events related to Botox injections submitted to the FDA. These reports include Botox treatments not only for cosmetic purposes but also for other frequent medical indications and injection sites. In total, the authors looked at over 13 million reports submitted voluntarily to the FDA’s MedWatch program by physicians, other healthcare providers, and patients. The reports related to patients on treatment with antidepressants were eliminated from the study to avoid confusion.

The results showed that patients who received Botox had a significantly lower incidence of depression. The study confirmed the antidepressant effect of facial Botox injections shown by previous clinical trials. Surprisingly though, the antidepressant effect of Botox was also noted for other sites of injection and medical conditions. In other words, when Botox was used for migraine prevention, muscle spasms, torticollis (neck pain), blepharospasm (involuntary blinking), hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), urinary bladder disorders, and sialorrhea (excessive salivation or drooling), it had an antidepressant effect.

The authors of the study believe the mechanism of action of Botox in treating depression is more complex than simply grief muscle paralysis. But what’s clear is that cosmetic facial Botox injections in the glabellar region (between the eyebrows) have a protective effect against depression and its symptoms. This means, in the future, Botox could potentially be used to treat depression. However, further clinical studies are needed before Botox is approved as a treatment for depression.

Other reading on Botox:

How much does Botox cost?

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Is there really such a thing?

Yes, there really is a Botox Savings Program! The actual name of the program is Allē and is offered through the company that makes Botox, Allergan. There is no fee to sign up, and the program essentially runs like any reward program you are used to currently (think Delta Frequent Flyer Program or Marriott Rewards Program). The way the program works is every time you purchase a product or service under the Allergan Aesthetic umbrella you receive “points.” These points can be converted to dollars whenever you want to use them for your treatment. The calculation for the points conversion is for every 100 points you get $10.

Different Levels of Savings

There are 3 different levels of the program:

1. Silver
   1. A person achieves a Silver level just by signing up. The Silver level gets you access to all the functionality of the program like obtaining and converting points. The silver level ranges from 0 – 599 Points
2. Gold
   1. A Gold Level member receives everything a Silver Level member does except they get an additional 50 points with every purchase. Plus, they get a digital gift. The Gold Level ranges for 600- 1199 Points
3. Diamond
   1. Anything above 1200 points you become a Diamond Level member. A Diamond Level member receives everything a Gold Level member does except they get an additional 100 points with every purchase. Plus, there points never expire!

Expiring Botox Savings

While we are on the subject of expiring points. We at Village Dermatology closely monitor all our patient’s points status for expiring points on a monthly basis. Until you reach that Diamond Level, your points are at risk of expiring, but we do everything we can to make sure you don’t lose out on this free money. The timeline for points to expiring is 9 months after the points were issued to your account. So, for example, if you received a Botox treatment on January 9, 2019, then those particular points would expire on September 9, 2019, unless you crossed the 1200 point mark and became a Diamond-level member. Then your points will never expire!

Other Benefits of the Botox Savings Program

While most people may call this the “Botox Savings Program,” it applies to all the aesthetic products offered by Allergan. Different levels of points are offered depending on which products you purchase from our practice. Here is a list of the different products and their point values.

Point Levels

There are 3 different point levels you can earn at depending on what you purchase:

1. 100 Point Level
   1. Latisse
   2. SkinMedica Topical Products
   3. Vobella 0.55ml syringe
2. 200 Point Level
   1. Botox Cosmetic
   2. Juvederm XC
   3. CoolSculpting Cycle
3. 300 Point Level
   1. Voluma XC
   2. Vobella XC 1.0ml syringe
   3. Vollure
   4. Kybella

What Else Can I Do With My Botox Points?

Can I give my points to someone else? No, you cannot. The points under this program are non-transferable. However, you can cash your points in and give them to a charity. Allergan will make a donation on your behalf to the charity (please note: These donations are not tax-deductible). The charities that you can donate to are the Make-a-Wish Foundation (makeawish.org) and the Dress for Success (dressforsuccess.org) foundation.

Some practices participate in this program, and some do not. Obviously, we here at Village Dermatology are more than happy to participate in this amazing program as it saves our patients money!

To sign up for this program, we HIGHLY recommend that you download the app from the app store or Google Play. You will see an icon with a purple “BD” which stands for Brilliant Distinctions. You can also visit the Allē website to learn more about this program.  If you have any additional questions, please let us know, and we will be happy to have someone call you in regard to this amazing savings program.

Learn More About Botox:

How is Botox Priced?

The post Botox Savings Program appeared first on Village Dermatology.

As mentioned on our Botox page, Botox is typically priced in two different ways: 1) By units or 2) By area. A medical professional will pick which way they want to charge their patients for a Botox treatment between these two options. But before we get too far down the road, the best place to start would be a definition for both terms.

Botox Pricing Structures

First, what is a unit? A unit is a measurement for products like Botox. It is similar to other types of measurements like ounces, inches, and grams. In fact, licensed medical professionals can only buy Botox® in a 50-unit vial or a 100-unit vial in the United States. Medical professionals that charge by the unit are charging you based on how many units it takes them to achieve your desired outcome. The units can span across as many “areas” as needed to achieve your goal. Each practice sets its own price per unit. For example, if a practice charges $15/unit and you needed 20 units to treat your frown lines and 16 units to treat your crow’s feet then that would cost $540 (36 units x $15).

Second, what is an area? There are typically 3 different “areas” in which Botox® is administered. They are as follows:

1. Glabella complex
   1. Otherwise known as the frown lines between your eyebrows
2. Frontalis
   1. otherwise known as the forehead
3. Lateral canthal lines
   1. otherwise known as crow’s feet

There is a fixed price for treating each area. How much that price is varies from medical practice to medical practice. For example, a practice might charge $300/per area. If you wanted to get your frown lines and crow\’s feet treated it would cost $600 (2 areas x $300). Medical professionals that charge by the area are charging you based on how many areas you want to be treated.

Botox Charges at Village Dermatology

We here at Village Dermatology have decided to price Botox by the unit.  So, your charge will be how many units you need, multiplied by the price of units at that time.  Sometimes we run promotions and specials, so subscribe to our newsletter or follow us on Facebook/Instagram and stay abreast of any promotions we are running at that time.

So why the vast differences in prices regardless of unit or area pricing?

Each medical professional must decide what they are going to price their service at in the market. Essentially, we are talking about Economics 101. If they feel their services are worth more in the market based on training, outcomes, reputation, etc then that price will be reflected in what they charge. If they do not have the right training, bad outcomes, poor reputation, etc then they will be forced to charge less as they have nothing of value to offer their patients other than a low price.

Botox pricing – Too good to be true

Caution should be used if you find a practice or medical professional that is charging prices that are extremely low and “too good to be true”. Unfortunately, there are ways to obtain illegal Botox® (via importation) at a substantially lower cost. The issue with importation is that there is no quality control in other countries and just because they say they are selling “authentic” Botox®, there is no way to tell. These practices have either been scammed by an illegal importer from another country or have knowingly decided to put profits over patient safety. Either way, it is something you should be aware of as an educated patient. All legitimate medical professionals and practices (like Village Dermatology) buy their Botox® directly from the manufacturer Allergan. A good way to tell if the medical practice you are considering choosing for your treatment is buying from Allergan is to go to the Botox Cosmetic website and use their Find-A-Doctor tool https://www.botoxcosmetic.com/choosing-a-provider#. Only practices that buy from Allergan show up on this tool.

We genuinely hope that helps to clear some things up regarding how Botox® is typically priced across the US and more importantly how to stay away from medical practices that use illegal products. If you have any other questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

Live a beautiful life,
Village Dermatology Team

Learn More About Botox:

Botox Savings Program

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