5 Surprising Benefits of Botox You Didn’t Know About

While Botox is best known for its ability to smooth out wrinkles, it also has a variety of other medical uses. This drug—a purified version of botulism toxin Type A—can also relax the eye, bladder, and uterus muscles.

Many people believe they need to schedule regular appointments at clinics such as Light Touch Clinic to maintain their look, but over time, Botox retrains your muscles to stay relaxed, and you may find you can go longer between touch-ups.

It Retrains Muscles

Although Botox is best known for smoothing wrinkles, it can also be used to help with pain and other medical issues. Botulinum toxin (a neurotoxin produced by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum), which essentially blocks nerve signals at injection sites, can be used by doctors to relax muscles and reduce pain and discomfort.

For example, Botox is injected into the neck area to help reduce chronic headaches. It’s also injected around the eyes to treat lazy eye, or cross-eye, an imbalance in the muscle groups that move the eyes.

Doctors can also use it to treat overactive bladder, which causes people to feel the need to go to the bathroom often and can cause urinary leakage or incontinence. And it’s injected in the hands and feet to treat excessive sweating or hyperhidrosis. And with a quick “Botox near me” search, you’ll discover a network of qualified professionals at your fingertips. Embrace a smoother, more confident you, all thanks to the convenience of local Botox expertise.

It Turns Down a Perpetual Frown

Botox, a neuromodulator made from onabotulinumtoxinA (the toxin from the Clostridium botulinum bacteria that causes food poisoning), is commonly used to reduce wrinkles and crow’s feet. However, the injectable also helps ease migraines, muscle spasms, and excessive sweating.

When you frown, two kinds of muscles in your forehead (known as the glabellar region) tense. These lines, called worry or frown lines, can be seen as a sign of stress and anxiety. When injected, botox paralyzes these muscles, and it is believed that this snaps the “facial feedback loop” and improves your mood.

A few injections in the glabellar region can soften those lines, giving you a relaxed and youthful look.

It Helps Elevate Your Brow

While Botox is best known for reducing the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles, it can also help lift your brow. The procedure does so by weakening muscles that pull down the brow, namely the orbicularis oculi and corrugator muscles (sometimes called the “11s”). You can achieve a non-surgical brow lift by strategically injecting these two muscles with neurotoxin.

Some studies have suggested that facial expressions like frowning and smiling influence emotions. It’s thought that when you frown, it sends a negative feedback loop to the brain, deepening your feelings of sadness or anxiety.

Botox’s ability to relax these muscles may snap this cycle, boosting your mood. However, the effect doesn’t last long, so touch-ups are essential. The good news is that icing the area for the first few days after treatment helps minimize bruising and prolongs results.

It Softens Your Jawline

A wide jawline can make it hard for your cheekbones to reach their full potential. Botox can slim your jawline, enhancing your face’s natural beauty and giving you a well-defined V-shape.

During the procedure, your health care provider will use a thin needle to inject small amounts of botulinum toxin into your masseter muscle. You’ll likely want your skin numbed beforehand to prevent pain. Your healthcare provider can do this using one of several methods, including applying anesthetic cream or ice to the area.

Your face will soften as the toxin causes your muscles to relax, smoothing out wrinkles and creases. You might notice a difference within one to three days, with some areas showing results sooner than others. The effects last about three months before you visit for a follow-up treatment.

It Helps with Pain

Aside from its cosmetic uses, Botox can also ease various medical conditions. It’s been approved by the FDA to treat crossed eyes and eyelid spasms and can also help with pain.

The same neuromuscular paralysis that Botox causes on the face can be used to alleviate neck and head pain, as well as chronic migraines. It can even ease the discomfort of cerebral palsy by reducing involuntary spasm movements. It’s also shown to be helpful with fibromyalgia, especially as a treatment for myofascial pain syndrome.

The use of Botox to relieve musculoskeletal disorders was pioneered by physical medicine and rehabilitation physicians (physiatrists). These healthcare providers inject the drug into spastic areas to help with movement and aid rehabilitation exercises.

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