A California-based company says it has developed an alternative treatment to Botox and other neurotoxins that work by paralyzing muscles.
According to ABC News, a San Francisco Bay area company has developed a system that freezes nerves instead of paralyzing them. Like Botox, the treatment is administered using a needle. However, instead of injecting a neurotoxin, the new treatment injects a pressurized refrigerant, which "hyper cools" the nerves and signals them to go into a sort of hibernation.
"We're not killing the nerve," CEO Clint Carnell explained to the news source. "It's a second-degree Wallerian degeneration. That's a fancy way of saying we use cold in about a 30-second dose over nerve and it simply puts the nerve into hibernation."
Like neurotoxins, the nerve-freezing treatment lasts about four months and needs to be repeated in order to maintain results. Unlike Botox and Dysport, this technology is in clinical trials and is not yet FDA-approved. It is, however, approved for treating wrinkles and muscle pain in Europe and Canada.
"We believe that we have a technology that could potentially be very effective across many different indications, whether they're movement disorders, whether they're pain or whether they're aesthetic benefits," said Carnell.
According to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery, more than 2.6 million individuals received Botulinum Toxin Type A injections in 2011, and the treatment has been the most popular cosmetic nonsurgical procedure performed by its members for the last 12 years.
Because there are several options available when it comes to injectables, experts recommend those who are considering this type of treatment discuss their options with a licensed, board-certified plastic surgeon or cosmetic dermatologist before making a decision.
For more, visit The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery website at http://www.surgery.org/