Health: Injectables For Foot Pain

By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Cosmetic treatments used to help people look younger are now being used to relieve foot pain. 3 On Your Side Health Reporter Stephanie Stahl has more on this new use for beauty injections.

Diana Smikle has aching feet, like millions of women. Shoes are causing agony, and many, like Diana, aren't willing to give up their favorite footwear.

"It's more professional. Heels, you know suits goes better with heels," said Diana.

She has painful corns on her toes, thick patches of skin caused by friction.

"I tried the corn pads, wrapping it with band-aids," said Diana.

Nothing worked, so now she's turned to New York City's Podiatrist Johanna Youner for the latest in foot pain relief.

"It's an off-label use of filler that's been FDA approved for areas on the face, the nasal-labial folds, for years, and we found it safe and effective in the feet," said Dr. Youner.

The filler, Juvederm, is injected beneath the corn and fills up tissue volume that's been lost through years of wear and tear. The filler not only evens out and shrinks the corn, it triggers the body to replace its own worn out tissue.

"Using filler we can either delay surgery or halt it all together," said Dr. Youner.

And that's not the only injectable being used on the feet. Dr. Youner is also using chemotherapy injections to treat plantar warts on the feet. And Botox, the popular wrinkle treatment, is now commonly used for what can be a smelly foot problem.

"Botox is a muscle paralytic, and for excessive sweating in the feet, it is safe and effective," said Dr. Youner.

Diana says the corn injection was painless, and she soon hopes her feet will be as well.

Most common foot problems can often be treated with medications or other non-invasive therapies. Doctors say injections don't always work and should only be tried as a last resort, before surgery.