Can Botox Really Affect Your Brain

Botox can get into your brain.  Literally.  Analysts from Pisa, Italy have been injecting rats with botox and watching what occurs. The following results were a little surprising. 

 Botox stops the release of neurotransmitters from explicit nerves.  When it is injected into the skin, it is taken up by the nerves, and over time blocks the release of neurotransmitters, shutting down those nerves. 

 In dermatology, we use botox injections to close off the nerves that control muscles in your face, like your forehead and brow.  With those nerves off, you can’t contract the muscles, so they stay flat. Very much like your having wrinkles shorts.  While you are upright, the pants hang loosely and are smooth.  When you sit, your thighs and hips crinkle the material, forming creases or wrinkles.  In the same way, when your facial muscles contract, they crunch up, creasing the skin and forming wrinkles. 

So what about the brain? 

Results from this Italian study refute the belief that botox stays locally in the skin.  They revealed that the botox injected into the rats followed the nerves back to the rat’s brain, shutting offnerves there. 

 What does this mean? 

 This is a critical question.  The study was focused in rats, not actual users.  We do not know if it would do the same thing in people even if some botox did get into the brain, there is no evidence at all that it has any meaningful effect, good or bad.  For example, we all know that smoking kills brain cells and stops other cells from developing.  Does that imply that smokers or ex-smokers have any pointed brain effects from their habit? 

 Botox is a fabulous and powerful drug.  In treating wrinkles and fine lines, there are just a few if any treatments short of intrusive surgery that can compare to the results that botox offers.  It is , however , a drug and has side-effects and has the potentiality to be misused and even abused.  Botox has been used safely in thousands of people, but there are hazards.  It is also expensive and its effects are non permanent, so botox isn’t for everyone. 

 If you are not ok with assuming hazards of botox, or your financial position doesn’t allow for it, then think about this viable alternative : use a night cream that contains Retin-A or retinol over the counter.  No facial cream is more effective at reducing fine lines than tretinoin. 

 Use an cold pack to help prevent swelling and bruising at the injection sites.  Topping your face before and after the process can be useful in this regard.  Your Physician should have icepacks available for you to use. 

 Plan to return on a consistent basis.  Most Botox injections last at least 3 months and some last so long as a year.  There will be a point , at which the toxin wears off and you’ll have to have the process repeated in order to maintain results.

 If you recently had botox and look in the mirror one morning and think that you are 10 years younger, don’t worry, it’s not brain damage, it’s just your face on botox.