Could a rub-on gel replace those painful Botox jabs?

IT is news that will bring a smile to the f ace of women who regularly subject themselves to Botox injections in a bid to banish crow’s feet.

Scientists say the days of suffering needles for younger-looking skin could soon be gone after they developed a rub- on gel containing the powerful toxin.

A US study will test whether a one-off application can keep wrinkles at bay for a similar time to Botox injections, which usually last four to six months.

The toxin consists of relatively large molecules that do not easily cross the skin barrier and struggle to reach the muscles around the eyes. It means scientists have tried and failed for years to come up with an effective cream or gel formula. Now Californian firm Revance Therapeutics claims to have come up with a formula that allows enough of the wrinkle-zapping poison to seep through the skin.

It is recruiting 450 adults across the US for a trial. Half will have Botox gel applied to wrinkles on both sides of the face and the rest will get the placebo gel. The results are due next year.

If successful, the Botox gel could be on the market in the UK in the next couple of years. However, it is likely that the treatment will still need to be applied by experts, rather than by users themselves. Botox is made from the botulinum toxin – which comes from the same bacteria that causes botulism – and works by temporarily paralysing muscles that contract the skin.

The UK market is thought to be worth more than £18million a year, and more than one million British men and women a year are thought to have the jabs regularly.

The British Association of Aes- thetic Plastic Surgeons welcomed the gel breakthrough.

Spokesman Marc Pacifico said pilot studies suggested it was especially effective if the skin was first treated with a laser to make it more permeable.

But he warned: ‘If you applied it just a centimetre too far away from the crow’s feet you could affect the nerve that controls the whole of the forehead. I think there is a question mark over how accurate you might be using a gel rather than a needle.’