Will Botox Work For Acne and Oily Skin?

Q: Dr. Eppley, I’ve been calling around Indianapolis trying to find a doctor that does Intradermal botox. It’s for oily skin and large pores. I think it is a newer procedure because a lot of places I called had never heard of it. Can you please give me some feedback on this? I really feel like this would help my skin very much. Thank you for your time.

A:  What you are talking about is the use of Botox to help control acne and/or oily skin. This is not new or anything magical about it. The concept was introduced years ago. It is simply putting Botox into the skin (intradermal) as opposed to under it. This is actually how Botox is used for armpit sweating, putting the injections into the skin where the sweat glands run through. The question is not whether it can be done but how effective it is in controlling oil gland production. In theory it sounds good but the requests to have it done are so few that I can’t tell you how effective it is most of the time. It is not a skin problem for which Botox is FDA-approved or ever been subjected to rigorous clinical trials. So in doing it one has to know it is uncharted territory for Botox use. (i.e., it might not work) When it comes to reducing pore size, I would say that Botox is not likely to be effective for that particular skin problem.

Dr. Barry Eppley

Indianapolis, Indiana