What is Xeomin?

What is Xeomin® (incobotulinum toxin A) botulinum product?

Agents to weaken muscles have blossomed over the last few years.  Botox® was the original agent we all became very familiar with and its original indications related to treating problematic eye muscle spasms, neck muscle spasms and the like.  As physicians noted people’s wrinkles improved Allergan, the producer of Botox® started marketing Botox Cosmetic® to manage certain facial wrinkles and than doctors expanded the areas of use to broaden the cosmetic use of the product.

The next kid on the block was Dysport® (abobotulinum toxin A).  Dysport®, like Allergan’s Botox® is a variation of the outline toxins type A that interfere with the mechanisms of muscle contraction.  Dysport® is a smaller molecule than Botox Cosmetic® so it might spread over a slightly larger area, and it is dosed differently to achieve a similar effect as Botox®.

The most recent outline toxin A product approved by the FDA is Xeomin (incobotulinum toxin A).  As with other outline products the primary indications have been for cervical dystonia (neck spasms) and for glabellar lines.  Glabellar lines are those verticle “elevens” between your brows above your nose.  Again plastic surgeons may often use the agents to address wrinkles in other areas of the face, but these are “off label” usages.

Each of these outline toxin A products will have their different dosing to obtain results.  Each company, Allergan with Botox Cosmetic®, Medicis with Dysport® and now Merz Aesthetics will have their own approach to marketing their cosmetic product.  Your plastic surgeon will guide you in deciding which product might be best for you and what your specific dosing and areas of utilization are best to soften the signs of muscle activity with wrinkles.