Did you know Botulinum toxin (aka Botox) isn’t just for wrinkles?
Did you know that the Botulinum toxin molecule (BoNT) has superpowers beyond wrinkle reduction? Yes, we have been so awed by its muscle relaxing properties that we have completely ignored the fact that BoNT has many applications beyond that and I bet you that most of its users don’t even know them. Needless to say, BoNT is one of the most important advances in dermatology the world has seen, and yet it all happened by chance.
The story is that a little-known ophthalmologist, Jean Carruthers, was injecting her patients with BoNT, in her professional capacity, to control their eye spasms. When patient after patient reported a reduction in their frown lines, she started to suspect she had found something wonderful. The effects were so dramatic that she decided to treat herself and was wowed by the results. Back in 1987, Carruthers had no idea that her accidental discovery would result in millions of women (and many attentive men) feeling a whole lot happier and more confident in themselves.
What makes BoNT so unique? It can attach itself to almost any cell in your skin and change how the cell works, which means that it has other beneficial effects besides the highly sought-after reduction of the appearance of facial wrinkles. This isn’t just industry hype; it’s science!
Why is this important? It’s because what happens at the cellular level is hugely significant when we come to look towards the other benefits we can harvest from the BoNT molecule.
Want to keep your skin plumped and youthful? Then BoNT might just be the trick that keeps your skin from ageing prematurely. That’s because BoNT has been found to prevent collagen from breaking down. Collagen is the main structural protein found in skin and it’s responsible for skin strength and elasticity. Even better, BoNT helps your body produce more of it. It’s an effect I see in my daily practice. My patients who are treated with BoNT regularly have a glow about them. I call it the BoNT glow, and now we know why!
But its superpowers don’t stop there; there’s far more that this magical molecule can do for you. Ever wondered how you can give yourself a mini facelift without surgery? Trying BoNT for its facelifting properties might be just the thing for you. BoNT, when used in dilute concentrations over the entire face, causes the skin envelope to shrink, and voila, you have a mini facelift. Although we have been aware of this effect for a while, it has only recently been backed up by research. It is something that experienced BoNT injectors have suspected for years! It’s why I have never treated my patients by chasing their lines but rather treating their faces as a whole.
Did you also know when it comes to skin conditions, like acne, the BoNT molecule binds to the cells in the glands of the skin that produce the oily secretions rendering them sluggish which means reduced sebum production and fewer breakouts? I often find in my acne-prone patients that the areas treated with BoNT remain spot free for the duration of its effect.
If it’s not acne that’s the bane of your life but facial flushing, then good news, BoNT reduces facial redness and helps to control conditions like rosacea. We aren’t quite sure how it does this yet but evidence has shown that regular treatments with BoNT in areas affected by rosacea can reduce the inflammatory effects of the disease as well as the dilation of the small capillaries that expand when you have a rosacea flare up. Coupled with its acne-reducing effects, for acne rosacea patients, this makes treatment with BoNT a viable alternative to help you control the effects of this chronic disease.
But what if you don’t have a skin condition like acne or rosacea but suffer from enlarged skin pores or excess sweating? Surely not? Yes, it’s true! BoNT can reduce open pores and sweat production and give you that photoshoot smooth skin you’ve always dreamed of. This is because it has an opposite effect on the small muscles around your sweat glands. Rather than relaxing them like it does for your facial muscles, it causes the smooth muscle in your glands to contract which in turn tightens your pores.
Now for us to go out with another BIG FACT BANG! It’s another lesser known benefit of BoNT and what really gets me excited. It’s the fact that patients that were treated with BoNT, had fewer episodes of depression than those women who were not treated with BoNT. Imagine something that can literally change you from the inside out.
Now that’s an amazing molecule!
