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Botox

Feb 21, 2013 | 10:22 AM

Botox is a word that furrows as many brows as it smoothes. It’s a controversial topic. Many people have strong opinions for or against it. My opinion, as always, is to know the facts so you can make your own confident and educated decision. My experience has been that many people don’t know the facts.

Botox is a brand name for a neuro toxin. Another brand name of the same thing is Dysport. This neuro or nerve toxin is derived from the same bacteria that causes botulism (“botch choo lism”). Botulism is food poisoning.

Botox or Dysport have medical applications but they are best known for their cosmetic ones, most famously, smoothing out of the glabellar lines in between the eyebrows.
Both are used in other cosmetic applications on the face but neither are FDA approved or Health Canada approved for any other cosmetic use on the face. Using Botox in crows feet, for example, is called “off label” because this usage is not approved by the governing bodies in the States or Canada.

Botox is approved for “temporary use” in people aged 18 to 65 but we have people over this age who are offered it. We also have people who have been using Botox constantly with no rest in between injections for years.

Side effects have included difficulty breathing, speaking, and swallowing. Side effects have also included double vision, blurred vision, and loss of bladder control.

It is a fact that people have died from Botox. It is also proven that Botox, a neuro toxin, migrates beyond the skull bones. That’s where the brain lives. The brain is the neuro center of the body.

I have clients who use Botox and clients who don’t. I make no judgement. To each, their own. However, I know my facts and I want you to know them as well. Don’t just ask your doctor or dentist about it. Visit the Botox website. Search side effects online so you can decide for yourself.

Results Cosmetic & Wellness Therapies is on Facebook. Visit online at www.resultspa.ca. Listen live every Thursday just after the 8 am news and weather on CKBI radio.