Some Turn from Botox to Xeomin
The drug was approved over the summer and is meant to fix wrinkles.
A new alternative wrinkle fighter is hitting the market, and some doctors say it could be cheaper than Botox.
Tiffany Chion has been going under the Botox needle for a few years, but the 39 year-old is now ready to try something new -- Xeomin
Xeomin promises to fix facial wrinkles in much the same way that Botox and Dysport do.
The Federal Drug Administration approved the prescription medication last summer.
“I love the way Botox feels and they said it was very similar, so I said, ‘OK, let’s try it,’” Chion said.
Chion’s doctor, Michael Janiszewski of Medspa 1064 in Glastonbury, said Xeomin lasts as long as the other products and seems to be just as effective.
“I mostly get it for prevention,” Stephanie Lakomski said.
By no means is Lakomski trying to reverse the clock, but the 25 year-old is trying to beat it.
"As I'm making that face, that's how you get those wrinkles. So if I can't make it, and I'm paralyzing the muscle, hopefully I won't ever get wrinkles,” she said.
Janiszewski said the FDA approved for Xeomin is for the glabella area.
“Which is an area between the brows right here. What we frequently call the elevens, where people frown. They get the deep crevice right here. It makes people look angry or mad and they don't like it,” Dr. Janiszewski said.
But there are some differences. For one, Xeomin contains no additives.
Dr. Javier Davila, of Esana Plastic Surgery Center in New Haven, where Lakomski works as a nurse, said that could be good news for some of his patients.
“It is possible that patients who do not respond to Botox or Dysport based on immune responses to the other additives might actually do OK with Xeomin because these are not contained in it,” said Dr. Davila.
Yet doctors caution there are fewer long terms studies on the new drug, and like Botox, Xeomin is a neurotoxin, which carries the risk of some life-threatening side-effects.
Still, with some doctors pricing Xeomin at 25 percent less than Botox, this new drug could drive down the price of beauty.
For patients who’ve already tried both drugs, the choice really comes down to personal preference.
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