Botox, or botulinum toxin-A, is well-known for its skin-smoothing properties. But can it help improve your hair?
While many articles focus on Botox conditioning treatments — which don’t actually contain any Botox — these treatments don’t tend to help with hair growth.
Instead, we’ll explore the impact of Botox scalp injections for hair: how they impact hair loss, what side effects you can expect, and the results they can offer.
There are two types of Botox for hair:
It may seem misleading, but hair Botox does not actually contain any botulinum toxin-A. Instead, hair Botox acts as a popular deep-conditioning hair treatment. It is known as “hair Botox” because of the smoothing effect it has on your hair. Meaning, that hair Botox can smooth out frizz in damaged hair the same way Botox smoothes out wrinkles on your face.
This type of hair smoothing treatment is popular with women who have longer hair and want an alternative to a keratin treatment (also known as a Brazilian blowout). Unlike keratin treatments, hair Botox treatments contain fewer harsh chemicals and can be applied to a variety of hair types.
The second type of Botox for hair is injecting true Botox into your scalp. While this is much less widely available, it has been shown to effectively treat male pattern baldness [1-3].
Let’s find out how Botox injections can impact hair growth.
People who experience hair loss are often believed to have insufficient blood flow to the hair follicles. That’s why vasodilators like Minoxidil work: they widen the blood vessels and stimulate blood flow to the hair follicles.
Blood vessels in the scalp travel through the intramuscular plane. Injecting Botox into the intramuscular plane can relax the muscles and promote blood flow to the scalp [2]. This helps bring additional nutrients and oxygen to the follicles, stimulating hair growth.
These images show the impact of using scalp Botox injections to stimulate hair growth:
Male androgenetic alopecia patient before treatment and one month after Botox scalp injections.
Images comparing the effectiveness of Botox injections with Botox and Finasteride after 3, 6, 9, and 12 months.
Effectiveness of Botox for diffuse thinning and female pattern hair loss at baseline, then after the first and second treatment.
Side effects of Botox for hair injections include [1]:
These side effects tend to be mild [3]. Individual studies on smaller patient numbers have found no adverse effects when treating pattern baldness with Botox injections [2].
Botox injections for hair growth aren’t a widely offered treatment. They’re not licensed to treat any types of alopecia, so while the results are promising, there aren’t many clinics offering Botox injections for hair growth.
Most of the Botox hair treatments advertised are hair conditioning treatments. While these may be effective for improving the smoothness and shine of your hair, they’re unlikely to help with hair growth if you have pattern baldness.
Botox injections can increase your hair density, as shown in the photos above. One study found that 24 weeks after treatment, 80% of patients who had Botox scalp injection treatment had good to excellent responses, seeing thicker, fuller hair [1].
This study was fairly small, with just ten participants. However, it shows promise as a potential future treatment for androgenetic alopecia.
There’s no one-size-fits-all treatment plan for Botox injections. Each individual needs to be assessed to determine how often Botox injections are required, how much Botox should be used, and how many sessions will be needed.
One review of Botox injections for hair growth found that most studies conducted up to five Botox injection sessions [3]. 30-150 units of Botox were used in each session. Injection frequency spanned three weeks to five months.
In the UK, Botox for hair growth injections costs around £300-£400 per session. Bear in mind that you may need multiple sessions to stimulate hair growth.
Botox scalp injections aren’t a first-line treatment for androgenetic alopecia, but many other solutions are proven to promote healthy hair growth in a less invasive way. Finasteride, Minoxidil, and Dutasteride are some of the most effective treatments to try for hair loss. If you’re interested in surgical hair restoration, a hair transplant offers permanent results.
Not sure which treatment is right for you? Take a look at our hair loss resources to learn all about tackling your hair loss, or book a free consultation with our team of hair loss specialists.
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