Your skin is your largest organ (covering your whole body), and it is designed to be elastic and flexible but firm because of proteins like collagen and elastin. These chemicals are present in many different body areas and help provide structure, support, and elasticity. As you age, your body stops producing large amounts of these proteins, so your skin starts to wrinkle, sag, and crease.
Many treatments reduce wrinkles and other signs of aging, but Botox® is still among the most popular. And in addition to its cosmetic uses, it is also effective for several medical treatments. So what is it about Botox that makes it so versatile? Let’s examine how it works and helps in medical and cosmetic applications.
If you live in the Lake Oswego, Oregon, area and you’re dealing with problems Botox can treat, the extensive medical team at Lake Grove ENT/ Lake Oswego Laser Aesthetics/ LOLA can help with it and a wide variety of ear, nose, and throat needs.
Botox is a derivation of the botulinum toxin type A, a form of neurotoxin that, once injected, is used to paralyze muscles by disrupting the nerve signals that cause muscles to contract. Muscle contraction requires the chemical messenger acetylcholine, which attaches to muscle cell receptors, and botox prevents it from being released. It was used for this purpose in 1989 when the FDA approved the treatment for eye problems like blepharospasm.
In addition to the multiple conditions these injections can treat (upper limb spasticity, crossed eyes, overactive bladder, severe underarm sweating), it also has numerous applications for ENT needs. It can be used in treating a series of complex dystonias (movement disorder that causes involuntary contractions), including oromandibular, laryngeal, and cervical dystonia. It can also be used to treat nasal hypersecretion because of its effect on nasal glands.
Because it relaxes muscles, botox injections reduce the appearance of aging lines, such as frown lines (between the eyes), crow’s feet (around the eyes), horizontal forehead creases, cobblestone skin on your chin, and lines at the corners of your mouth. A thin needle administers up to five shots in the areas targeted, takes about 10 minutes, and last 3-4 months, depending on the treatment.
So, whether you’re trying to look younger or looking for solutions to specific medical conditions, botox can help. If you’re ready to see the benefits of botox work for you, make an appointment with the team at Lake Oswego Laser Aesthetics / LOLA / Lake Grove ENT today.
