“Home of Younger Skin” (HOYS) program: Defining the change in apparent skin age after facial treatment with botulinum toxin and dermal fillers

BACKGROUND Objective and subjective scales estimating improvement in both clinical studies and clinical practice are becoming more mainstream. However, the use of a system to analyze improvement in aging with a multiplicity of treatments would be useful. The purpose of this study was to use a recently developed educative and patient self-assessment program ("Home of Younger Skin", HOYS) for assessment of the effect of facial treatment with neurotoxins and filling agents in terms of decreasing apparent age. METHODS Four patients underwent facial treatments with neurotoxins and dermal fillers by an experienced blinded physician and were assessed twice utilizing an age analysis program (HOYS), once before and then 6 weeks after completion of treatment. RESULTS The four patients showed an average reduction in apparent facial age of 7.5 years. The individual "regions" differed in their reductions. The upper face showed a decline of 13.5 years, the periorbital region 9.25 years, the mid face 4.5 years, and the lower face 12.25 years. CONCLUSION Use of this previously validated self-assessment program may prove to be a useful measure of patient-reported improvement with treatment.