3/12/08
Botox use is slipping among women, according to recent survey numbers from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). One of the group’s key findings was that Botox injections for women dropped 15% last year compared with 2006.
Allergan, maker of the popular product, cited rising sales of Botox whereas several cosmetic doctors reported continued strong demand for the injections of weakened botulinum toxin Type A.
"My Botox practice continues to increase by 15 percent from 2006 to 2007 to 2008," said Dr Dore Gilbert, a Newport Beach dermatologist.
But Robert Singer, MD, an aesthetic surgeon and past president of the surgeons’ society, defended the validity of the survey, saying that it has been conducted annually since 1997. This year’s survey found that aesthetic medical procedures overall increased by 2%, to 11.7 million, the study reports. The annual total has been hovering around that level since 2004.
The survey found men’s relatively infrequent injections of Botox rose to 330,000 last year, an increase of 10%.
Botox use peaked at 3.2 million in 2006 after about a decade of growth, then dropped 13% last year, to 2.8 million procedures, according to the report.
That leaves Botox injections by far the most frequently performed aesthetic procedure. Number 2 was injectable dermal fillers, such as Restylane and Juvederm, at 1.4 million.
