Fewer wrinkles thanks to regular botox injections? Many people, including numerous Hollywood stars, have been using the nerve toxin to look younger for years. So much for the best-known effect of the substance. But did you know that Botox also helps against severe teeth grinding or that its effects can be reduced more quickly through training? Specialist Lisa Schultes from HNOmedic explains five curious facts in an interview with the news agency spot on news.
“Botox is obtained from cultures of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and, before its entry into medicine, was primarily known for ‘sausage poisoning’. The pathogen was discovered in the 19th century because poisoning symptoms and deaths occurred after the consumption of spoiled meat products. The name Botox comes from the Latin botulus (sausage) and toxin (poison).
“Today, Botox is mainly known from the field of aesthetics. The neurotoxin can do so much more. It is not only used in the field of neurology. It can be used to reduce sweat gland activity in the event of excessive sweating, so-called hyperhidrosis , as well as with severe teeth grinding. Here it is injected into the masticatory muscle and thus leads to a relaxation of the jaw muscles.”
“The ‘Facial Feedback Hypothesis’ states that facial muscle tension arouses those feelings that correspond to the respective tension pattern. Several studies have already shown that paralyzing the muscles to frown could positively influence the mood of the test subjects.”
“Rarely – but possible. Especially in the field of neurology, very high doses are used, for example to treat muscle spasms. After repeated treatment with botulinum toxin, there are patients who develop antibodies against the neurotoxin over time, so that the The desired effect does not occur even after repeated injections. However, the dose used in aesthetic medicine is significantly lower, so that resistances are extremely rare here.”
“If the effect of the Botox treatment is stronger or not as desired, you can accelerate the natural breakdown of the neurotoxin by training the muscles in the treated area. Targeted massages also promote blood circulation here and thus the breakdown of Botox.”
