I’m sure we’ve all heard the word Botox in our lives, but did you know there was a lot more to Botox than just the cosmetic uses? There are many uses for Botox injections that can actually treat a myriad of conditions as well as help with physical appearance to people for cosmetic purposes. These tips were a big help when I was trying to find a medical spa near me that provided Botox and other services. This article will deal with all uses of Botox injections, so keep reading and find out more about Botox.
What is Botox?
Botox is the most highly recognized brand name which stands for botulinum toxin. This is a type of neurotoxin which affects muscles and nerves. Although it says toxin, this treatment is not as scary as it would sound. For both medical and cosmetic treatments, sometimes it’s a necessity to inject a toxin into a painful nerve for certain treatment or to paralyze certain muscles for cosmetic purposes. With that being said, however, you should know that this type of toxin is a derivative of botulism, a severe toxin which can be fatal. This is why it is extremely important that you always seek a professional to do your injections and never try to “cut corners” or save money by going to someone who isn’t certified or professionally trained to administer these injections.
What are the medical treatments for Botox?
As mentioned above, Botox is for more than just cosmetic purposes. There are actually wide arrays of medical conditions that can be treated with Botox injections. Here are just some of the conditions that Botox is most widely used for.
Eye and vision problems such as crossed eyes, eyelid twitching, lazy eyes, and uncontrollable blinking just are just few conditions that can often be helped with the Botox injections. These injections are inserted near the eye, depending on what muscles need to be stimulated or paralyzed, and will often serve to block the faulty transmissions from the muscles and nerves. For example, in the case of eye twitching, the Botox injection targets the muscles that are involuntarily contracting, or twitching, and will paralyze these muscles, stopping the twitch.
Muscle twitching and spasms can also be helped with Botox injections. In the case of dystonia, an injection of Botox can help control the overactive muscles which are twitching spasmodically and causing distress to the individual who is suffering from such episodes. Botox will be injected near the center of the muscle mass which is misfiring and will then paralyze the muscle set that is moving erratically. Sometimes, more serious conditions like cerebral palsy can be aided by using Botox injections similarly to how they are used for dystonia.
Migraines are also often helped by the use of Botox injections. In cases of severe and frequent migraines, typically with those who suffer from migraines more than 5 days a week, a Botox injection will help relax some of the muscles and nerve endings which are causing the pain. In the case of nerve endings, the Botox is used to block or slow down the transmission of “information” from the nerves to the brain signalling that there is pain. It’s important to make sure that your pain isn’t from internal source or other cause because slowing down or stopping the nerve response to the brain could cause issues if the problem is more severe than just pain receptors.
Some unexpected conditions that can be treated through Botox injections are overactive bladder and overactive sweat glands/excessive sweating. Both of these are aided by Botox in that the injections can serve to paralyze or dampen the reaction of the muscles and nerve transmissions to the receiver in the brain which tells you that you need to urinate so frequently and also slows down the production of sweat in underarm sweat glands.
What are the cosmetic treatments for Botox?
So now we know that Botox is incredibly beneficial for many medical conditions, but it can also be used in several beauty treatments.
People most commonly know about the uses of Botox for removing and relieving wrinkles and fine lines from the forehead, eyebrows, crows feet, lips, chin, jawline, and neck. The Botox injections will smooth out the area where it is injected and will often puff up the area which also smooths out wrinkles and fine lines.
Botox can help in many cosmetic ways, but damage and lines caused by too much sun exposure and gravity are not typically helped by Botox injections. Things like smile lines and crows feet are more likely to be treated successfully than something like wrinkles due to too much sun exposure, for example.
How long to Botox injections last?
As with many other health and beauty treatments, there is typically a need for repeated treatments as time goes by. With Botox injections, it is often necessary for the injections to be done every three to five months depending on what you had done and the severity of the conditions. There are cases where the muscles and nerves may “train” themselves after several Botox treatments which would lower the number of visits and treatments you may need in the future.
What are some possible side effects?
As stated above, it is especially important that you get your Botox injection from a trained professional who will know things like proper dosage, location of injections, number of treatments, and benefits. Sometimes, however, even with someone who knows what they’re doing there are risks. Some of the risks include injection site infections and swelling, pain near or around the injection, flu like symptoms, indigestion, and irritation. In many cases, a medical professional will weigh the possibility of side effects with the benefits that a patient might have from the Botox injections.
Botox has many uses both in medicine and physical appearance treatments. As with everything, it’s very important that you consult your physician for any medical or cosmetic treatments requiring Botox and that you make sure when choosing your treatment facility or person, you are asking the proper questions to make sure that the person who is giving your Botox injections is trained in this type of treatment.
