Skincare is never overrated. Who wouldn’t want supple, tender and younger looking skin? If only we could stop time and remain forever young. Well, the good news is Botox has many positive cosmetic and therapeutic applications.
Contrary to popular belief, Botox can do wonders to your skin and it can contribute significantly to your health otherwise. Here is everything you need to know about Botox. So, the next time you ask why Botox, maybe you should ask why not?!
What exactly is Botox?
Botox is derived from Clostridium Botulinum, a bacterium and can be found at several different geographical locations like forests, lakes, soil, even in the intestinal tracts of mammals. These instances of natural occurrence are harmless until the bacteria begin to turn into botulinum toxin, a fatal neurotoxin which affects and severely disrupts the nervous system.
Botox is used often used medically to cure certain muscular problems. It is, however, and this is significant to our article, used cosmetically by paralyzing the muscles temporally (flaccid paralysis) to treat skin and minimize wrinkles. There are eight types of botulinum toxin named A-H.
How does it work?
It can yield poisonous consequences but if used right, it entails myriads of positive applications. Botulism is a life-threatening illness and may be the cause of death. However, despite this, it has proven time and again to be a beneficial therapeutic and cosmetic protein.
It is injected into humans in minor concentrations and works by eradicating all possibilities of the signals from the various nerve cells reaching the muscles. It relaxes abnormal muscle contraction and leads to muscles that are less rigid and stiff.
What exactly are the benefits that my skin is likely to receive?
- It can do wonders to a drooping brow. Yes, it’s a problem also medically termed as “brow ptosis” which can cause people to look sulky, sad and in agony even when they feel like a ball of sunshine. The reasons for such drooping can be biological and you can eat healthy to save your sinking brows. But often, you need intervention. Botox keeps the muscles of the brow aloft by relaxing them.
- It can do wonders to people who sweat endlessly. Medically termed as “hyperhidrosis”, it is described as “a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively and unpredictably. People with hyperhidrosis may sweat even when the temperature is cool or when they are at rest.” Once you have this issue, summers are bad, and you don’t care about anything but just want this to stop. It can work as the greatest protector for sweat glands. Botox is specifically effective for extreme cases of restricted sweating in the armpits, hands or feet. It is far better than dealing with the skin infections that you are likely to get because of all the sweating although you may need to reiterate the procedure a few times.
- It relaxes migraine pain. Headaches can be unendurable, and can make you look bulkier than you really are. How would you look elegant at that party when all you want to do is either kill yourself or everyone else?! The drug doesn’t completely stop a migraine, but it caresses and lulls several symptoms that are often very painful like nausea and tremendous sensitivity to light.
- It can prevent that habitual eye twitching/squinting of yours. Sometimes it can be more than a temporary annoyance and you’d just want to get rid of it. These can also disrupt your vision as they can last for a prolonged period. It can also cure cerebral palsy.
- The most effective non-surgical solution to wrinkles and lines that make your face look solemn and haggard. You can also accomplish a flawless and creamy complexion without having spent a fortune on operation and surgeries. Botox is minimally invasive and can immensely reduce the wrinkles around the forehead, neck and around the mouth.
- Men with enlarged prostates can use Botox to treat problems like infections and to relax the frequent urge to urinate. The medical benefits of Botox entail a huge spectrum of things including arthritis pain.
Sounds great but what are the side effects of Botox?
The side effects include facial pain, pain at the site of injection which is very common and harmless, headache, temporary eyelid droop, muscle weakness and respiratory infection.
The best and most effective way to deal with these side effects is to have an in-depth knowledge and the idea of your facial/body muscles and their behavioral patterns to be cautious.
Consult a physician and gather proper information from places like Derm Medica before you decide to go through this procedure because the side effects may yield catastrophic shortcomings and then there will be no turning back. Prevention is always better than cure.
Celebrities on whom the Botox sun shone brightly and not so bright!
Undergoing the Botox treatment can be tricky. If you don’t apply it well, it may wreak havoc in your face and skin and you will be stuck with that forever. Courtney Cox’s Botox therapy didn’t go as well; her lips look older and thicker.
Priyanka Chopra’s, on the other hand, was amazing. It worked beautifully on Nicole Kidman’s lips as well, making them appear wholesome and beautiful. Cameron Diaz’s face looks distorted after the Botox application and so does Joan Rivers’. But not all Botox treatments failed miserably. Tom Cruise’s worked out just fine, in fact, more than fine.
Deciding how you want to look is absolutely your own prerogative and no one else’s. But don’t go overboard. As they say too much and too little of anything is bad. Once a bad Botox, always a bad Botox. Consult doctors and dermatologists before you take any decision.
Besides, these beauty products only promote socially constructed ideas of beauty. Learn to accept yourself, because you are beautiful and anyone who questions that doesn’t deserve to be in your life.
