Have you noticed that, more and more, these days people talk about โbotoxโ? Itโs a word thatโs extremely recognizable and while it may have had a stigma associated with it in years past, itโs so โnormalโ to talk about or even โgetโ now.
And whatโs interesting is that botox has increased dramatically in popularity among men and is dubbed โbro-toxโ!
It may surprise you to know that botox is actually a drug that is derived from a life-threatening toxin that is produced by a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum.
Remember when your parents told you not to buy โswollenโ cans of food at the grocery store? Well, that was because if food wasnโt canned properly, it could create the perfect conditions for bacterial cells such as C. botulinum to produce the toxin and cause the cans to bulge.
LUCKILY, the botox weโre talking about has nothing to do with food and everything to do with medicine! In medical (and cosmetic) applications, the toxin is purified and injected in very small doses that are meant to be therapeutic and not harmful.
There are different manufacturers of therapeutic or cosmetic botulinum toxin. The trade name of BOTOXยฎ belongs to the company Allergan. But other forms of the drug include Dysportยฎ made by Galderma, Jeuveauยฎ by Evolus, Inc., and Xeominยฎ manufactured by Merz Pharmaceuticals.
So, when you hear โbotoxโ it could be any one of these companiesโ formulations (itโs kind of like how we refer to all facial tissues as โKleenexยฎโ).
Well, letโs talk about whatโs the same first. They all contain the exact same active ingredient which is botulinum toxin type A as a starting point. But then, the various manufacturers may add other proteins or components to the purified botox protein which affects how much the doctor uses (the dosage), how much is spread in the tissues (diffusion) and how fast the results are noticed. Usually, your doctor (or nurse injector) will have a preference for a particular product depending on what itโs used for.
Like so many other discoveries, medical and cosmetic botox came from a trial-and-error story! Over 40 years ago, in 1978, Dr. Alan Scott, an ophthalmologist, was determined to help one of his patients whoโd had multiple surgeries for crossed eyes (strabismus) without any success. Well, this patient was his first success story and as a result, heโs been touted as the โFather of Botoxโ. Then, โdrugโ was named Oculinum as it was predominantly used to treat eye disorders.
About 10 years later, the drug company, Allergan, acquired the rights to distribute Oculinum and performed some drug trials for other medical conditions. Botox is used nowadays to treat some of the following:
Usually, botox injected every three months can drastically reduce the number of headaches that patients experience.
People who have experience excess sweating of their feet or tightness in their calf muscle as a result of certain conditions or even wearing high heels may opt to have botox injections to alleviate pain.
Sometimes after surgery for esophageal cancer, people experience difficulty with food passing from the stomach to the small intestine. A botox injection in the pyloric sphincter which acts as a barrier between the stomach and small intestine will relax this muscle and allow food to pass through easier.
This condition gives people the feeling that they need to go to the bathroom urgently. As a result, they often will โwetโ themselves because their nerve signals are communicating that the bladder is full to the brain and causes the bladder to leak. Here, botox stops the signal and lets the bladder fill properly and gives people more control over their bladders.
As mentioned above, botox can help with excessive sweating of the feet as well as the hands and the underarm areas. This condition is known as hyperhidrosis.
Then, in 1992, physicians, a husband-and-wife team, first reported that botox could have cosmetic applications. From there, others in different medical disciplines noticed that muscles that cause lines could be inactivated.
Since botox is a neurotoxin, which means it is poisonous to nerve cells, it inactivates nerves that tell muscles to contract. When nerves cells are stimulated, they release a special chemical messenger, called a neurotransmitter, that sends a message to the muscle.
So, when botox targets the nerve cells in that specific muscle, the muscle is not able to contract, and this happens within 3-4 days. Then, without the neurotransmitter, the muscle stops โworkingโ until the body can repair the nerve activity.
Both are the exact same! The only difference is that the cosmetic botox is only used to treat the face and the medical botox is to treat spastic disorders in the extremities and neck.
The allure of cosmetic botox is that because the drug prevents muscle contraction, the skin over the muscle appears smooth and relaxed which may be more youthful in appearance.
Injectable dermal fillers โfill inโ the lines and wrinkles of the face. Fillers last between 6-18 months depending on where they are injected and help contour the face and add volume to the face and lips.
Non-surgical facelifts, called thread lifts, help to lift and tighten skin that may be sagging or loose. This procedure can also be combined with cosmetic botox.
So, from the beginning to the end of this blog, itโs probably safe to say that you now know a little more than you did before.
But thereโs always more to learn. If you want more information about botox for medical or cosmetic reasons, please book a consultation appointment with one of our board-certified and experienced injectors who are always ready and willing to help you Look.Feel.Be the best YOU.
For more information or to book your consultation at any of the following clinics, please call 1-866-333-3305 or book an appointment below
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