Potential Side Effects of Botox
Despite the alarm bells that go off when we hear the word "botulism," the botulinum toxin is a safe and effective agent when used appropriately by physicians who are professionally trained. Frown lines, crow's feet, and other facial wrinkles require only tiny doses of the toxin, and these are injected very carefully into specific muscles.
Even very small amounts of the toxin however, can have undesirable side effects.
One of the main short-term side effects is weakness in the group of muscles being treated. Drooping of the eyelids (ptosis) for example, can develop when Blepharospasm is treated. Some patients also develop headaches, flu-like symptoms, and nausea.
Less commonly reported complications include: pain, erythema (abnormal redness of the skin), and weakness in adjacent muscles.
While Botox has been used since 1980 by thousands of people worldwide, formal clinical evaluations of long-term treatment have not yet been conducted.
One possible complication of long-term use is the formation of antibodies. Botulinum toxins contain proteins. In certain circumstances, when foreign proteins enter the body,
the body's natural response is to form antibodies to the protein. When antibodies are formed, you may no longer respond as well to therapy. High doses
and frequent injections of botulinum toxin have been linked to the formation of antibodies.
Along the same lines, the body may also try to compensate for the disconnection between the nerves and the muscle by growing more nerve endings to that muscle. That means future injections at the same concentration of toxin may be less effective because there are more nerves to block, and you may need higher doses.
On a theoretical basis, the risk is that when you stop receiving treatments, you may end up with deeper wrinkles than when you started because you have more muscle-nerve connections.
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