Recently, the FDA approved Latisse ® as a beauty treatment to darken, lengthen and thicken eyelashes. It is interesting to note that this effect was noticed as an unanticipated side effect of treatment with a parent drug for glaucoma.
I am rarely super enthusiastic about cosmetic products because frankly most of them do not work. But this does, otherwise it would not have received approval and I have spoke with ophthalmologists who had witnessed the accidental – yet beneficial – effect from the original glaucoma treatment medication.
According to Allergan, the company that produces the drug, patients can expect to see improvement in their lashes possibly as soon as eight weeks. Typically it takes about four months for the peak effect to take place.
The medication is applied with a little brush just as liquid eyeliner would be. It should be noted that if one stops using it, the lashes will revert to their pretreatment appearance.
The product is safe with very few possible side effects. It is important that patients who use extended wear contact lenses check with the prescribing physician.
We are keen on the medication and make it available to our patients by either prescription or dispensing directly in the office.
Why am I so excited about this? Because unlike most non-prescription cosmetics that make outlandish promises and never deliver, this prescription works!
There is no other product on the market that produces such sustaining results.
Many patients have long-asked for something that was the next best thing to permanent; this is it.