Medications & Aesthetics: Botox, Microneedling & More
If you’ve ever sighed while filling out our novel-length health history forms, here’s the inside scoop: it’s not busywork. The medications you take every day can have a big impact on how your body responds to treatments like microneedling, Botox, or even laser sessions. And because your results matter, we need the full story.
💊 Medications That Can Change the Game
Steroids (Prednisone, Dexamethasone, Hydrocortisone)
- Impact: Chronic steroid use can slow collagen production and wound healing, which means treatments like microneedling for acne scars or PRP may not deliver their usual dramatic results.
- Our approach: We often recommend stacking treatments—for example, microneedling before and after PDGF or pairing Sofwave with exosomes—to activate multiple healing pathways.
Blood Thinners (Aspirin, Plavix, Eliquis, Coumadin)
- Impact: They don’t reduce results, but they do increase bruising after injectables.
- Our approach: Gentle technique, longer pressure post-injection, and timing adjustments where possible.
Immunosuppressants (Methotrexate, Biologics like Humira/Enbrel)
- Impact: These medications dampen the immune system, which blunts regenerative results from PDGF or biostimulatory fillers.
- Our approach: We may create a staged plan—rotating treatments every 4–6 weeks to gradually build results.
Accutane (Isotretinoin)
- Impact: Skin is thinner, drier, and slower to heal—making energy treatments or microneedling unsafe during use.
- Our approach: Focus on barrier repair and gentle skincare until it’s safe to resume procedures like SkinPen microneedling.
Chemotherapy & Radiation Therapies
- Impact: Skin becomes fragile, with reduced cell turnover and collagen response.
- Our approach: Cautious timing and gentler modalities that prioritize comfort and hydration.
✨ What We Can Still Do
Just because your meds influence results doesn’t mean you’re out of luck. At Curate Medspa, we:
- Combine therapies (like microneedling vs laser depending on skin needs, sometimes both).
- Customize timelines to maximize collagen response.
- Use regenerative add-ons like PDGF, exosomes, or biostimulatory fillers.
- Emphasize realistic results while still celebrating the wins.
💉 The Botox Question: Is It Still Worth It?
We hear this often—is Botox worth it if you’re on medications that affect healing? The short answer: yes. Neuromodulators like Botox or Daxxify aren’t dependent on collagen synthesis; they work on nerve signaling. In fact, if you’ve been considering Daxxify vs Botox, medications don’t change the efficacy much—it’s more about how long you want results to last.
And when it comes to collagen-boosting? That’s where treatments like SkinPen microneedling shine, even if results are slower on certain medications.
📝 Why We Ask About Everything
When we hand you those (endless) health forms, it’s because:
- We want to know which medications may influence your healing.
- We want to choose the safest, most effective treatments for you.
- And we want to design a plan that honors your health history and delivers results worth celebrating.
Think of it this way: the more we know, the more we can help you glow.
🌟 Final Word
Medications matter, but they don’t cancel your aesthetic goals. By understanding your unique health history, we can adapt protocols—whether that’s microneedling for acne scars, laser treatments, or Botox/Daxxify—to help you look and feel your best.
So yes, we’ll keep asking you to fill out the forms. Because your story deserves a treatment plan as curated as you are.