Botox is one of the most popular nonsurgical cosmetic treatments that has helped countless patients look younger and prevent aging—but there are still some persistent myths about the safety or effectiveness of this treatment that we are going to debunk in this week's blog.
BOTOX IS TOXIC
With a name like botulinum toxin, we aren't very surprised by this misunderstanding—however, it truly is a simple misunderstanding. Botox is actually a derivative of the purified protein from the toxin, and was initially developed for its medicinal wonders (it was originally used to treat patients with severe epileptic seizures, tremors, and debilitating headaches). But now it's the much-beloved treatment to get us to stop frowning, squinting, and otherwise scrunching up our faces into wrinkles. And the rigorous research and trials required in order to be FDA approved mean botox is proven to be safe when administered by a licensed medical provider.
ONCE YOU START YOU HAVE TO KEEP GETTING THEM FOREVER
The common misconception that skin will wrinkle even more than before if you stop your botox treatments is a perplexing but persistent belief. And if you examine the science behind how botox works, it's a misconception that doesn't hold up. Since botox stops the injected muscles from moving, the muscles usually start to shrink over time as the muscles are used less and less. Very much like muscles on any other part of your body, if you stop using them, they will become smaller and weaker. And when your facial muscles do regain movement again, they're likely to be weaker and less able to form deep lines on your skin. The only way your skin would go back to square one would be if you stopped all injectables for a couple of years, allowing your muscles to regain their strength. However, it would simply be a return to your baseline and not worse than it was prior to botox.
YOUR FACE WILL BE FROZEN AND EXPRESSIONLESS
Your face is made up of a complex map of 42 muscles all functioning in harmony to give you facial expressions. So unless your dermatologist is injecting all 42 of them (and we seriously hope they aren't), your face will never be devoid of all expression and movement. The beauty of botox is that it is extremely localized—meaning it cannot travel around your face and freeze any muscles you didn't intend to freeze. The very small doses injected into only the most necessary locations mean that only the troublemaker muscles that cause frown lines, crows feet, bunny lines, and others are the ones frozen. The rest will still move freely, allowing you to smile, show discontent, or surprise without the hassle of creating wrinkles.
BOTOX ONLY WORKS FOR FACIAL WRINKLES
As mentioned before, anti-aging was never even the original intention with botox. Botox works for treating migraines, neck pain, involuntary muscle twitches and tremors, and hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating). It can also be used to tighten platysmal bands in the neck resulting in a tighter appearance, reduce the orange peel texture that can appear on the chin, to create a "lip flip" for a subtle lip plump, and in the masseter muscles in the jaw to reduce TMJ and slim the face. While we think our favorite way to use it is to fend off frown lines, we acknowledge the many incredible medical benefits of botox.
Botox has earned its reputation as one of the most effective anti-aging procedures you can get without downtime, and the results speak for themselves. Schedule an appointment with Dr. Supriya Tomar to try botox by calling our office at 561-805-9399 or emailing us at info@supriyamd.com
