For the past two decades, Botox has been a significant aspect of the modern world. For years, it served as an injectable medicine popular among aesthetic physicians and plastic surgeons who sought to improve their clients’ looks.
Nevertheless, scientific discoveries have led to the use of Botox treatment of various other serious medical conditions apart from just improving looks by doctors.
But then again, what is Botox? Where did it come from? And what are the uses of Botox in medicine and cosmetics? Let us find out.
What Is Botox? How Does It Work?
Botox is a drug that originates from botulism toxin, the bacteria causing food poisoning. In spite of it being a poison, Botox is used in small, controlled amounts to improve appearance or treat medical conditions.
The injection of Botox into a certain area prevents the nerves’ chemical messages from reaching there by blocking them.
Consequently, the muscles in this region experience spasms or contractures. Medically, this is exploited to alleviate pain, among others. Aesthetically, however, it serves to weaken facial muscles thereby causing the overlying skin to become unwrinkled.
The Evolution of Botox
Emile van Ermengem, a Belgian bacteriologist, first identified Botox in 1895 after he isolated the bacteria that cause botulism from a bad ham which had left 30 people sick.
Scientists learned about the effects of this poison on our nervous system during their research on its medical application throughout the 20th century.
During the 1970s American ophthalmologist Alan Brown Scott who specialized in eye diseases found out about Botox. He noticed its effectiveness at treating disorders of eye muscles for the very first time ever
Cosmetic Uses Of Botox
Some of the cosmetic uses of Botox are-
1. Crow’s feet-
Ageing causes the development of lines near the eyes’ corners known as crow’s feet. By relaxing the muscles around the eyes, Botox assists in eliminating these. It makes the skin smooth and reduces the appearance of crow’s feet.
2. Wrinkles-
When we get old, our skin becomes less flexible because of decreased hormone distribution. This stops the body from making enough collagen that keep the skin flexible. Lack of flexibility makes the skin fold and droop creating lines.
Common areas where lines can be found include the neck, forehead and cheeks. Botox is injected into these areas to minimize them. It paralyses muscles hence reducing wrinkle formation making one look young.
3. Frown Lines-
Wrinkles make us think and make us unable to do anything calmly. A good example is when someone has wrinkles on their forehead that are always present indicating they are always deep in thought. As one age these creases tend to deepen.
The introduction of Botox into these zones causes relaxation in the muscles responsible for the frowning and furrowed brow. Additionally, the drug stretches out the skin around this region making it tight thereby creating a smooth, youthful appearance.
4. Neck Line-
The aging process doesn’t only affect our face, but also our neck. The neck is another area that can show early signs of aging. Long horizontal lines start to appear on the neck as people grow older, which results in sagging skin around it.
When Botox is injected into the neck area, it works by tightening up these muscles therefore giving jowls and jawline some slight lift while at the same time smoothing out any creases that may have developed on their surface.
5. Gummy Smile-
If you are insecure about showing too much gum when you smile or speak, then Botox is the solution. People with extremely thin lips tend to struggle with showing too much gums when they smile or speak.
This is because thin lips can disappear depending on the structure of the mouth. To fix a gummy smile, Botox is injected into the upper lip, to relax the muscles. Some doctors even recommend getting lip fillers along with Botox to properly contour the lips and fix the issue.
Medicinal Uses Of Botox
Medical uses of Botox are-
1. Excessive Sweating-
Hyperhidrosis is a medical situation that might cause a lot of shame when one sweats too much in one place or all over the body. It can be a result of obesity, pregnancy, diabetes mellitus and hyperthyroidism among others.
To treat it, the most common medical procedure done is injecting Botox. The sweat causing nerves are blocked by injecting Botox.
2. TMJ Disorder-
TMJ or temporomandibular joint disorder causes tenderness of the jaw joints and surrounding muscles due to constant teeth grinding, face injury, or arthritis.
Botox helps mitigate the symptoms of TMJ by reducing pain and improving the function of the jaw. However, it doesn’t treat the root cause of TMJ.
3. Overactive Bladder-
Overactive bladder disease can affect anyone of any age. In both men and women, the frequency of the urge to pee and urine leakage are symptoms of this condition. This could be due to a urinary tract infection (UTI) or an STI, but it could also be associated with age.
Incontinence problems can be solved through various methods such as use of botox. What happens when botox is used is that it gets injected into the bladder thereby causing muscles around it relax which helps increase capacity as well decrease times for involuntary passing urine within a short period.
4. Crossed Eyes and Eyelid Spasms-
The very first use of Botox was to fix eye disorders, like spasms and crossed eyes. Botox is also used to fix lazy eyes, a condition that leads to misaligned or crossed eyes. To fix eye spasms, Botox is injected in micro quantities into the precise nerves of the eyes.
This reduces the incidence of uncontrollable muscle contractions. To fix misalignment of the eyes, Botox is injected into certain eye muscles to restore eye function.
Conclusion
Originally, Botox was a harmful poison that had severe health implications. On the other hand, through intelligent scientific research and medical creativity, it was found that this toxin has plenty of advantages both in cosmetics as well as medicine.
Though its first use was for beauty purposes, Botox is now known for treating such illnesses like eye twitching, TMJ disorder and excessive sweating among others.
