With botulinum toxin, actually a nerve toxin, cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists offer a relatively new way of treating wrinkles without any surgery at all. The muscles responsible for some wrinkles are paralyzed. How risky is such a procedure? How long does the effect last?
What is botulinum toxin?
In addition to a beautiful summer tan, all sunbathers bring home a lasting vacation memory: wrinkles. Crow’s feet around the eyes, frown lines above the nose and forehead wrinkles visibly bear witness to a person’s maturing process, or to put it less kindly, their aging process. The sun is only one factor among many.
One remedy promises relief: botulinum toxin, registered as the brand name Botox, is simply injected into the skin and after just a few days the wrinkles disappear. As simple as it sounds, the addition of “toxin” in the name reveals that Botox is a poison, namely a nerve toxin made from botulin, the excretory product of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. This bacterium multiplies predominantly in decaying animal tissue. It is also found with preference in poorly preserved cans and sausage. Even in the millionths of a gram, botulin has a lethal effect – many farmers are aware of the danger to horses and cows from feed contaminated in this way because, for example, dead mice in concentrated feed are not always detected.
How does Botox affect facial wrinkles?
The skin of the face is underlain by and firmly attached to mimic muscles. If the muscles tense, the facial expression is created, a fine thing for example when laughing. However, the wrinkles so feared by some also develop, for example when squinting the eyes when doing physical exertion. The wrinkles become deeper over the years and often – as in the case of frown lines – they do not disappear at all, even if the muscle tension decreases. So many a “evil eye” is unintentional because the wrinkles are to blame.
In 1980, the wrinkle-smoothing effect of botulinum toxin was discovered in America, and it has been used there for wrinkle treatment since 1982. It is injected directly into the muscle with a fine needle. There it inhibits the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine at the motor end plates – to put it simply, no more signals are transmitted between the nerve and the muscle, and the striated muscles are paralyzed. Botox has been used for many years in human medicine for spastic torticollis or eyelid spasm.
Side effects and concomitants
For frown lines, for example, three punctures are sufficient, once above the root of the nose and once each above the eyebrows. Now the muscle can no longer be tensed. A feeling of numbness disappears after a few days, the muscle paralysis itself lasts three to six months. If the treatment is then repeated, the paralysis remains between one and two years. Mild skin irritation, sometimes a small bruise at the injection site, may occur as side effects.
In the lateral eyebrow area during forehead wrinkle treatment, there may occasionally be a temporary lowering of the eyebrow or upper eyelid. Expressive facial expressions are said to still be possible despite the partial paralysis of certain muscles, especially since the effect disappears after a few months following initial application.
In Germany, this method of wrinkle cosmetics is now becoming more and more widespread and is offered by dermatologists. The treatment is not covered by health insurance. Prices for the short (five-minute) treatment vary between 100 and 500 euros.
