California-based Dr Simon Ourian says he realised that it was an effective means of encouraging new hair growth after he injected his mother’s scalp with Botox to treat severe headaches that were brought on by chemotherapy.
The treatment is used as a muscle relaxant and can also relieve pain brought on by certain conditions, including migraines. In this case the patient had also experienced hair loss from the chemotherapy, which started to grow back when the Botox was administered.
In the three years since this initial discovery Dr. Ourian says he has been carrying out comprehensive tests on volunteers to his clinic, during which time the treatment has been fine tuned and developed to specifically cater to hair loss.
Botox combined with cocktail of vitamins
To increase the efficacy of the Botox formulation for hair loss Dr. Ourian combines the injections with a cocktail of vitamins that are thought to be beneficial to blood circulation in the scalp area and that also encourage cell growth.
It is because of this specific action that the treatment is most suitable for alopecia areata, which is a leading medical cause of hair loss.
Ultimately a course of injections taken two to three times a year is said to reduce scalp tension through the increased blood circulation, which helps to improve the level of nutrients in the tissue surrounding the hair follicles, reactivating hair growth.
Two to three treatments a year
Dr. Ourian claims he has been testing the treatment out on volunteer patients at his Epilone Beverly Hills clinic, where he says that the positive results have led to the incorporation of the treatment on a permanent basis.
What makes the Botox hair loss treatment particularly distinctive is the claim that it can help hair regrowth. Other popular prescription products on the market currently include Regaine and Propecia, the latter only claims to prevent further hair loss, while the former claims to slow hair loss and occasionally encourages new hair growth.
Experts in the field of hair loss say that further independent testing has to be carried out to determine and verify the results reported by Dr. Ourian, as well as ensuring the safety of the treatment.