Easier To Get Botox Than A Mole Examination

Boston (dBTechno) - According to a new study, it is easier to get a botox treatment, than it is to get a mole examined by a doctor.

Published online Wednesday in the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, researchers found that on average, patients had to wait 8 days for abotox treatment and 26 days for a mole examination.

“The difference in wait times between medical dermatology and cosmetic dermatology patients is clearly real,” said Dr. Jack S. Resneck Jr., the lead author of the study and an assistant dermatology professor at the medical school of the University of California, San Francisco.

The study was conducted in 12 different cities across the United States.

Here in Boston, patients had to wait 13 days for a botox treatment, and an incredible 68 days for a mole examination by a doctor.

Moles can often be a sign of skin cancer. The time frame of diagnoses can drastically change the type of treatment.

“Wait times for this cosmetic treatment appear to be substantially shorter than those previously reported for patients with medical skin symptoms,” the authors of the study wrote. “Even when patients report a changing mole [a potentially urgent indicator of malignancy] and are willing to pay out-of-pocket for a dermatology visit, the median wait time was 18 days longer than for botulinum toxin in these [cities].”

Dr. David M. Pariser, president-elect of the American Academy of Dermatology, stated that it was pretty clear that cosmetic patients had easier access to treatment than medical patients.

“It doesn’t make me proud to say it, but it is true,” Dr. Pariser, a dermatologist in Norfolk, Va., said.

“The study shows that the Botox needs of the United States are being met,” said Dr. Alexa B. Kimball, an associate professor of dermatology at the Harvard Medical School. “If dermatologists stopped providing cosmetic care, it would not necessarily have an impact on medical dermatology patients.”

While the study exposed the difference in wait for the two procedures, it did not offer a reason why.

“We can only speculate as to why patients requesting botulinum injections faced short wait times compared with those with a changing mole,” the authors wrote in the study. “It is possible that some dermatologists or their receptionists may explicitly screen for patients requesting cosmetic services, or may reserve a set of separate appointment slots for cosmetic procedures.”