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Investigation of the Efficacy and Safety of Topical Vibration Anesthesia to Reduce Pain From Cosmetic Botulinum Toxin
Yiming Li1, Weiwei Dong, Min Wang
1*Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Huaxi Hospital, Chengdu, China; †Department of Dermatology, Sichuan FreSkin Hospital, Chengdu, China; ‡Department of Dermatology, Xian FreSkin Hospital, Xian, China; §Department of Dermatology, Chongqing FreSkin Hospital, Chongqing, China.
Background:
Vibration has been proved to be effective to reduce pain during facial cosmetic injections, but it has not been studied in Chinese patients.
Objective:
To investigate the efficacy and safety of vibration for pain reduction associated with cosmetic botulinum toxin A (BTX-A) injections in Chinese patients.
Materials And Methods:
In this prospective, randomized, split-face and right-left, self-controlled study, 53 patients received BTX-A injections for rhytid reduction, lower face, shoulder, and leg reshaping. Injections were given in a split-face and right-left design randomly assigned. A vibration stimulus was coadministered with BTX-A injections on one side, whereas the other side received BTX-A injections only. Patients completed a questionnaire immediately after treatment and were followed up 2 weeks later. A visual analog scale of pain sensation was statistically analyzed.
Results:
The patients experienced both clinically and statistically significant pain reduction when a vibration was coadministered with injections. Patients reported less pain on the treated side compared with the control side. Overall, 75% of patients preferred to receive vibration with their next treatment. No adverse events were reported.
Conclusion:
Vibration is an effective and safe way to reduce pain during cosmetic BTX-A injections and may have applications in other cosmetic procedures.
