Is botulinum toxin good? This is one of the questions that patients ask us. I
n recent years, the use of botulinum toxin as a cosmetic treatment to delay the signs of aging has become popular. However, having the word “toxin” in its name raises many questions about its reliability. Is botulinum toxin good? Here we tell you the truth.
What are botulinum toxin injections?
It is an injectable treatment that contains botulinum toxin type A or onobotulinumtoxinA. This toxin is produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum.
Botulinum toxin is good, beneficial and safe for cosmetic treatments. This is because when injected in small doses, it blocks signals from the nerve endings to the muscles.
This effect of botulinum toxin is good in several conditions. For example, it can prevent dynamic wrinkles that form from repeated contraction of facial muscles.
While botulinum toxin was the first drug used for therapeutic and cosmetic cases, other products containing botulinum toxin are now available, such as Dysport (abobotulinumtoxinA), Myobloc (rimabotulinumtoxinB), and Xeomin (incobotulinumtoxinA). These products are different from each other and cannot be exchanged
What are the benefits of botulinum toxin?
As mentioned above, botulinum toxin is good and is a quick procedure that is commonly performed for cosmetic purposes. It works by temporarily relaxing facial muscles and reducing fine lines, deep wrinkles, frown lines, glabellar lines, crow’s feet.
In addition, botulinum toxin also acts on the upper third of the face. Therefore, botulinum toxin is good and serves to raise the tail of the eyebrow and treat nose wrinkles also called “Bunny Lines.” It also acts to treat the lower third of the face: perioral wrinkles (also known as “BARCODE”), grooves in the mouth and chin that form during the aging process.
By blocking the movement of facial muscles, botulinum toxin cosmetics can restore a more youthful appearance to the face. Botulinum toxin injections are also used to treat conditions such as:
- Bruxism due to bite problems
- Cervical dystonia
- Eye twitches
- Botulinum toxin treatments can help relieve blepharospasm (involuntary contractions of the eye muscles).
- Lazy eye or strabismus
- muscle contractures
- Excessive sweating
- Bladder dysfunction
- Chronic migraines
So is botulinum toxin good for you?
Yes, it is good as the doses used in cosmetic and medical applications are very small and are generally considered safe.
To give some perspective: between 1989, when botulinum toxin was first approved, and 2003, only 36 adverse events were reported to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). In many cases, the adverse effects were related to an underlying condition of the patient and not to the botulinum toxin.
Additionally, cosmetic botulinum toxin injectables carry fewer risks than therapeutic botulinum toxin injections for medical conditions like those mentioned above because the doses are much lower.
If you are looking to take care of your appearance, at Benavides Aesthetic Medicine we have treatments such as botulinum toxin injections to delay the signs of aging. Contact us to give you more information. Contact us to give you more information.