Do You Really Know Botox?
How much do you know about Botox? Just for fine lines? Wrinkles? Anti-ageing treatment? If this is what comes to your mind when you hear of Botox, you’d probably know just about 10%.
Let’s get to know more about botox, facts, fictions and FAQs.
Botox: What Is It?
Botox is actually a trade name for Botulinum Toxin A, because of this; Botox is somehow related to Botulism, which is a dangerous form of food poisoning.
Botulism happens when a person eats food contaminated with the bacteria Clostridium botulinum. The bacteria release a neurotoxin and it is this neurotoxin that can wreak havoc to an unsuspecting victim.
Neurtoxins, as the name implies, work by disrupting the signals between the neurons or nerve cells.
When this happens, vital functions such as muscle movement ceases, which in turn can be catastrophic for us as every vital function from breathing to pumping blood to our system is controlled by nerves and muscles.
When this communication ceases, the result is paralysis, the most serious botulism symptom (and in some cases, it’s fatal). There are seven types of Botulinum toxins (Type A to G), what these toxins do is to attach to the nerve endings preventing the release of the neurotransmitter chemical acetylcholine.
Acetylcholine, once released, triggers the movement of muscles, without this, muscles would simply not move.
Other toxin types target the proteins essential for the release of acetylcholine instead of the nerve endings from which it would be released.
Botulinum A has this action, where it attacks the production of the protein SNAP-25, one of the proteins needed to release acetylcholine.
In summary, the botulinum toxin paralyzes your muscles and attacks the processes that cause muscle movement.
This is what makes the botulism lethal, when the toxin reaches the muscles in the chest, breathing would become difficult and a person could die through what they call as respiratory distress.
Why Would I Want Botox If It’s That Lethal?
Because there is a relation between Botox and botulism, you might be wondering, why on Earth would you get one, or has anyone died out of Botox.
The answer is relatively simple, the dose used for Botox injections is so small that it only causes minute paralysis of the muscles.
How Does Botox Remove Wrinkles?
The answer to this question is also simple, if a part of the body is paralyzed or can’t move, it cannot wrinkle, this is the main reason Botox is used to remove wrinkles.
It paralyzes certain muscle groups in the face, disabling them to contract, when there is no movement, wrinkles wouldn’t form.
Botox is not only used to make those unwanted wrinkles disappear.
Because of its paralyzing effect, it is used medically to treat spasms or involuntary movements of certain muscle groups, strabismus, cervical dystonia and blepharospasm are just some of the conditions successfully managed by Botox injections.
