Botulinum toxin may be among the top choice treatments in dermatologists’ offices, but there are some facts about it that we may not know and are interesting to discover.

Hearing the word botox, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the injectable treatment that smoothes expression lines and gives a radiant, youthful face. Fewer would think of botox as a medical treatment or a treatment for depression or chronic pain!

  • It was discovered due to food poisoning

Botulinum toxin A, which is the active ingredient in Botox, was first discovered in the 1820s by a German scientist studying a case of food poisoning. Dr. Justinus Kerner, as he was called, was trying to understand why a batch of sausages had poisoned several of his fellow citizens. During his research, he discovered that there was a toxin in the meat that was responsible for the poisoning. He named his discovery “botulism” from the Latin word botulus meaning sausage.

Today, botulinum toxin has been scrutinized by researchers and has “evolved” into the popular and safe substance used in medicine and dermatology.

  • From strabismus treatment to antiaging trend

Botulinum toxin was first approved by the US Food and Drug Administration FDA in 1989 for the treatment of blepharospasm and strabismus. But it all started in the 1970s when, during the related research on monkeys, scientists noticed that injections of the toxin reduced the wrinkles in the mid-frow of the animals!

  • One toxin, many medical applications

Botox works therapeutically for migraine and has excellent results for hyperhidrosis in the armpits, palms, soles, forehead and upper lip. “The use of botox in medicine has been started for many decades and all its successful and safe applications in the treatment of different diseases are what paved the way for it to be today, among other things, a safe and effective facial anti-aging treatment”, comments Dr. Amalia Tsiatoura, Dermatologist – Venereologist, Scientific Director of Cosmetic Derma Medicine.

  • The more you do, the less you’ll need

With regular treatment repetitions, gradually less botox is needed to enjoy the same results. “When botox injections are done regularly, the muscles tend to respond for longer and longer periods of time to the treatment,” explains Dr. Amalia Tsiatoura. “As the muscles we target each time relax, they become less active, resulting in progressively fewer units of botulinum toxin being needed to smooth out wrinkles. In addition, when we apply botox from a younger age, we prevent the formation of wrinkles as a result of which we can enjoy smooth and youthful skin for many years with smaller doses”, he adds.

  • Treatment for chronic pain

A study in the scientific journal “Anesthesia & Analgesia” showed that Botox injections significantly improved pain levels and overall quality of life in people suffering from chronic neck pain. Today, Barbie Botox, which has become a big trend after the release of the movie Barbie, targets precisely these muscles with the aim of relieving neck pain on the one hand and providing slimmer shoulders and a taller neck on the other, reminiscent of delicate figure of the famous doll.

  • Against depression and negative thoughts

Even if this is unexpected! According to a study in the scientific journal “Journal of Psychiatric Research”, botox can “block” negative thoughts. In this first-of-its-kind study, after just one dose of botox in participants, symptoms of depression were reduced by 47% after six weeks, an improvement that was maintained for at least 16 weeks. In contrast, in the placebo control group, there was only a 9% reduction in symptoms.

  • Botox, bro!

Botox treatment is becoming more and more popular among men, so the male version has been named Brotox, although in practice, the toxin is applied to the same places, but with more units of medicine. According to data from the American Association of Plastic Surgeons, in 2020 more than 265,000 botulinum toxin treatments were performed on men, and everything shows that the treatment is now a trend for the stronger sex as well. “In Brotox, the dosage of the treatment is adapted to the particularities of the male skin, which due to the more hypertrophied muscles shows more pronounced expression wrinkles. Also, for men who experience thinning hair in the frontal area, the treatment extends to the scalp for a more complete and natural result,” explains Dr. Amalia Tsiatoura.