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Celebrity Feud: Does Botox Work for B.O.?

October 02, 2008 6:25 AM

By Kirk Fernandes, ABC News Medical Unit

Botox for body odor? That malodorous question wafted forth during the latest round of custody proceedings over the 8-year-old son of actress Sharon Stone and her ex-husband, Phil Bronstein.

In San Francisco Superior Court documents, the judge references Stone suggesting that her son get Botox injections to fix a foot odor problem, reports Internet gossip site TMZ.com.

Putting parental perspectives aside, we thought it would be worth taking a look at just how Botox might be used to battle B.O.

Quick refresher. Botox is the trade name for Botulinum Toxin Type A, which comes from the potentially deadly bacterium Clostridium botulinum. When injected into the body in small doses, Botox can decrease nearby muscle activity, thus treating excessive muscle contractions and overactive glands -- including, yes, sweat glands.

Even though sweat doesn't always result in odor, it turns out there is some scientific basis for Stone's belief in Botox as a cure for smelly feet.

Botox is, of course, best known for contributing to the wrinkle-free Hollywood movement, but it was originally approved by the FDA for several medical uses, including the treatment of crossed eyes, excessive blinking and cervical dystonia (a condition characterized by jerky, involuntary neck movements).

In July 2004, the FDA approved Botox for the treatment of severe primary axillary hyperhidrosis -- more easily put as "really sweaty armpits."

But, not only does Botox reduce the amount of armpit sweat, several studies suggest it also reduces armpit odor.

In the aptly named 2007 research paper "Improvement of Olfactory Profile after Botulinum Toxin-A Treatment in Healthy Individuals," German scientists (supported by Pharm-Allergan, the company that makes Botox) report a study that can only be described as scent-illating.

Here's how the research went:

Day 1: 51 volunteers got a special, clean T-shirt to wear. After 24 hours, the researchers cut out the armpit areas of the shirts and froze them in bottles. Then, participants received injections of Botox in one armpit and harmless saltwater injections in the other.

Day 7: Researchers collected a second group of T-shirts and, again, preserved the armpit areas in bottles.

Day 90: A third set of T-shirts; more bottles.

So, how did the scientists determine whether the armpits that received the Botox injections smelled better than the armpits that got the useless saltwater placebo? T-shirt sniff test -- comparing Day 1 to Day 7 and Day 90.

Nine men and nine women, selected for lack of nasal congestion, among other olfactory advantages, came forth to rate the stench of each scrap of T-shirt -- 50 scraps per person, to be exact.

Each rater came up with scores for "odor intensity" and "odor quality."

The study, published by the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, reported that the armpits treated with Botox smelled "less intense" and "better."

While the small study sounds laughable, the research doesn't necessarily stink.

"We really admired this study," said Dr. Timothy Corcoran Flynn, medical director of Cary Skin Center in Cary, N.C., and clinical professor of dermatology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

You get a reduction in sweating and you get a reduction in odor, said Flynn -- who typically sees patients get the injections every "6-9 months or so."

Others have tried the technique in more delicate areas. For example, researchers in Korea reported success after treating genital odor with Botox in one patient -- who received 40 injections in one session. (I suspect the first injection, at the very least, was a rather tense affair.)

With respect to Botox reducing foot-related sweating and odor, there is far less research on the subject.

Some case studies on the procedure report an improvement in sweatiness, but the tests were done on a small number of people, and even doctors who conducted those studies conclude they would like to see larger research efforts with more participants.

Still, the procedure is available and advertised, as several videos on YouTube illustrate.

As for whether even considering Botox injections for 8-year-olds with smelly feet is a no-no, that issue might have to be left to a judge's discretion for now. 

The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery does not have a position on such use of Botox in kids, but it does have a position on cosmetic use of Botox in teenagers.

"If you were talking about a child having Botox for cosmetic reasons, we would be opposed to that," said AACS spokesman Charlie Baase.

It's not clear if Stone had recommended or encouraged other anti-foot-odor strategies with her son.

I've found a regular wash, socks and comfortable shoes usually do the trick … but I don't think my sweat glands are on overdrive, either.

What do you think of Botox for body odor? Should parents consider such a procedure for their kids?

October 2, 2008 | Permalink | User Comments (23)