THE celebrity's answer to ageing is being used to combat body odour.

North-East doctor Alan Patterson is using tiny injections of botox into the skin of the armpit to prevent people from sweating.

Already popular among celebrities as an anti-ageing treatment, the injections are quickly catching on as the latest way of keeping cool.

Dr Patterson, who runs clinics throughout the North-East, including in John Street, Consett, County Durham, adopted the technique after seeing it demonstrated at the British Association of Cosmetic Doctors, in London, and the World Anti-Ageing Conference, in the French capital, Paris.

The physician, who is a member of the British Cosmetic Doctors' Association, said: "I have used botox for some time, injected in the face to freeze muscles and erase frown lines.

"This is a very popular treatment, but while at the conference, I learnt about further uses of the drug.

"In other countries, especially the US, injections into the armpit to prevent sweating have really taken off, and it is especially in demand from celebrities who need to look cool at all times.

"It was apparently used by a number of personalities at the Oscar presentations, but I don't see why it should be limited to the famous. That's why I have introduced it to Tyneside."

The treatment works by blocking the release of a chemical that stimulates the sweat glands, and a single injection lasts about six months.

Dr Patterson said: "Different people have varied responses to treatment, but in a clinical trial, the average reduction in sweat production a week after treatment was 87 per cent, and perspiration was reduced by at least half in 95 per cent of patients."

Other uses for botox are being investigated, including treatment for stroke paralysis, migraines, facial tics, stuttering, incontinence, writer's cramp and tennis elbow.

It could also cure obesity by weakening the muscle that lets food out of the stomach, and help make sex less painful for some women.

Dr Patterson said: "Once treatments like this are available, they will be on offer on Tyneside."