BLOG

Botox is well known in the non-surgical world as being a great tool to help reduce wrinkles as well as help provide a more youthful look to the face. Botox is injected underneath the skin and causes the muscles to relax to help produce that smooth look that most people desire. And while that is still the main purpose for using Botox, there has been much testing in regard to what else Botox might be able to help with, and one of those things is hair loss.

Botox and Hair Loss

There are two different methods for using Botox on the scalp that people are claiming will help with hair loss, or help hair grow in thicker. The first method is what we would traditionally think of when talking about Botox and that is injections under the skin. While the other method that has been discussed regarding Botox and hair is using it as a topical treatment.

Do either of these treatment methods using Botox actually help improve hair growth or reduce hair loss? Let’s take a look.

Topical Botox Treatment for Hair Loss

In the hair care world these topical “Botox” treatments for your hair are called “Hair Botox”, but they don’t in fact have any botulinum toxin in them, which is what is found in injectable Botox fillers. This can lead to a bit of confusion when discussing Botox treatments for hair loss.

Simply rubbing Botox designed to be injected into your scalp is not going to help with your hair loss. It’s not going to make your hair appear thicker, it’s not going to promote hair growth in patients that are starting to lose their hair, and it’s not going to show the results you are probably expecting. So, we would advise against getting traditional Botox and rubbing it into your hair. Not to mention it would be extremely expensive to do so.

These “Hair Botox” products are actually just deep conditioning treatments that coat the hair fibers with fillers to help give the appearance of thicker hair.

These flexible fillers can grasp on to the hair and fill in any broken or thin areas to add moisture and shine, as well as soften and repair the hair. These treatments can last up to a few months but are not permanent and use of these conditioners will have to be repeated multiple times a year to sustain the desired outcome.

There are a number of different brands of “Hair Botox” out there, many of which use different ingredients, but the idea remains the same. Oils, antioxidants, and vitamins are rubbed into the hair to help repair and enhance damaged hair, giving it a fuller look.

Botox Injections for Hair Loss

As we mentioned above, injectable Botox has been around for a while. It is mainly used for reducing wrinkles in the skin on the face, but recently more studies have been done regarding other applications for the treatment.

Hair loss has come a long way in the last decade, and it only makes sense that more and more researchers are looking into non-surgical techniques to help reduce hair loss and hair thinning. While hair transplant surgery is still at the top of the list when it comes to hair loss treatment results, non-surgical, medicinal, and even laser light therapies have all shown great promise in helping to stimulate hair growth.

And that’s where Botox injectables may benefit those suffering from hair loss.

A study from 2020 out of China has indicated that injecting Botox (or Botulinum toxin type A (BTA)) into the scalp every 3 months for 12 months showed that it was effective at helping with hair growth. It is thought that since Botox injections help to relax muscles, these injections are relaxing the muscles in your scalp which can enhance blood flow and increase the delivery of nutrients to the hair. This can in turn help promote hair growth and less thinning in the scalp.

Of course, this will only work on hair follicles that are still alive. So if you have areas of your scalp where you have gone completely bald, then there’s a good chance that injecting Botox into those areas will not help and a hair transplant may be your only option.

We know how disappointing it can be when you start to lose your hair, so it’s exciting to see that the continued research into hair loss and hair thinning is showing impressive results using treatment methods that we currently use in other areas of the body.