Are these cosmetic treatments safe if I’m on immunosupressants?

Dr. Irwin- You said your office treats a lot of patients including those on immunosuppressant’s for organ transplant, arthritis, and psoriases. Are the bovine fillers such as Artefill safe for patients’ in this category? I take cyclosporine for psoriases? What about C02 laser resurfacing?

As I know you’ve probably discovered, there is very little to no scientific data on this.  Patients who were on immunosuppressants were usually excluded from the studies that were done on cosmetic treatments.  So……unfortunately there is no great answer to this.  But in my opinion, anyone with a more serious form of an autoimmune disease should avoid like the plague anything permanent like Artefill, Artecoll, or silicone injections.  It’s a little like russian roulette.  Why take the risk of complications that, if they should occur, would be permanent???  

Also, in general I’m opposed to all permanent injectibles.  Mistakes or adverse reactions to these are permanent – meaning you will probably have to live with them the rest of your life.  What if the doctor is tired and makes a mistake that day?  What if you are one of the people who develops painful, red bumps (granulomas) 8 years later (this has happened).  There are so many other safer products out there!  Why not use those instead?  Hope this helps.  Dr. I

Dr. Brandith Irwin, MD

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Hi, I’m Dr. Irwin. I believe that consumers deserve a medically trained and unbiased skin care advocate.

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