First of all, I would like to say that this is not an attack on anyone who chooses to use Botox. We all have the right to choose what we do with our own body! This article is simply highlighting some of the concerns and research that may show negative effects with the long-term use of Botox. Everything in your body is connected, injecting a toxin into one area of your face could impact your body in a range of different ways. Always do your own research and if you do choose to do Botox make sure you go with a reputable, well-recommended provider -B xx
How Long Has Botox Been In Use?
Botox has been used for almost twenty years now. There are women who started using Botox in the mid-nineties when it first came out and they are still going strong and love the results. There are many other women who have tried it and have had bad experiences.
Often times the bad experiences are going to be the most reported on, quite likely the women who are using it and are getting good results are not telling anyone about it! That being said however there are many potential dangers from using Botox.
Botox as you already probably know is a neurotoxin and a pretty powerful one at that! It’s origins date back to the 1920’s when the Scientist Dr Justinus Kerner started conducting food poisoning experiments on himself in efforts to better understand the neurological effects of food-borne botulism.
It wasn’t until after the war that studies were done showing benefits to muscle relaxation. First of all, let’s look at some negative effects that Botox might have on the muscles in your face!
How Botox Use Affects The Facial Muscles
Botox paralyses the facial muscles, makes them unable to move and over time the muscles will start to waste away and become smaller. This can affect the overall structure and integrity of the face! It is the muscles in your face that give it definition and natural beauty.
It is also the muscles that help to keep your skin nice and taut and elastic. This is why women who stop using Botox suddenly after years of use can notice skin sagging because their facial muscles can no longer keep their skin taut.
Using Botox does not necessarily make your face look any younger. There are a lot of things that go into a youthful looking face and body beyond just lines on your face.
So you erase the natural movement and lines on your face? What about your neck, chest area and your hands which are probably still going to tell your age even if your face doesn’t. Your body will also still be ageing at the cellular level.
Personal Thoughts On Botox
Do women look any less beautiful with lines on their face? Lines from smiling and laughing and having real emotions and feelings. Faces that don’t move naturally can lose their natural beauty.
Years ago I stumbled upon this photo of Audrey Hepburn when she was older – she only lived until the age of 63. We get so used to seeing photos of people when they are young.
What struck me was that she was still incredibly beautiful even with the facial lines. She smoked and spent large amounts of time doing charity work outside in the sun probably without sunblock. She was out ‘living life’ rather than worrying about the lines on her face!
Once you inject something into your skin in order to change it you cannot ever possibly ‘go back’ and see how your face and skin would have aged naturally without ever doing it.
Doctors say that once you stop using Botox your face will go back to its baseline – that is the way that it would look if you had aged naturally or perhaps with slightly fewer lines or deeper lines than before but how would you really know? You wouldn’t.
There is no way to go back and the problem with most women is that once they start it is then hard to stop because suddenly seeing your face appear to age and get lines once the Botox wears off can be alarming and so a dependency to Botox starts.
However you have lost the ability to now see your ‘natural’ face because you can’t really remember what it looks like, so your face can over time can start to look very unnatural, but it would be such a slow process that it would be really hard for you to see it in yourself, it would only be noticeable to others.
When I first started researching Botox I was thinking that the number one issue would be the muscle wastage that occurs, however, Botox has the potential to be much more serious than just affecting your looks it also has the potential to affect your brain. Your brain is not something you want to mess with!
What Is The Number One Issue With Botox Use? Can It Impact The Brain?
The main problem with Botox beyond superficial reasons is that we just don’t know how it might affect the brain in the long term. As I said at the start everything in your body is connected. You don’t just ‘fix’ one problem without creating more potential problems which may/or may not surface until years down the track.
Quite often when the pharmaceutical companies conduct drug trials they only look at the effects that happen during the trial, not 2,5 or even 10 years down the road. Our bodies all process things differently and we all might get different side effects.
It has been said that Botox is perfectly safe because such a small amount of toxin is injected but what is ‘safe’ to one person might not be safe at all to another. Supposedly botox also does not cross the blood-brain barrier but in some sensitive people, it might if your barrier is compromised.
Chronic inflammation can interfere with the blood-brain barrier (and has been known to accelerate ageing!). Here are some interesting results of recent studies:
Botox tested on rabbits showed that over time muscles wasted away into fat and it also spread to other parts of the body meaning that Botox used on the face in women could potentially also cause other body muscles to weaken and turn into fat.
Injected into the forehead Botox can change and rearrange the sensory map in the hands. The brain map of the face and the hand lie directly next to each other in the brains sensory cortex. This shows that paralysing the forehead can prevent the brain from the necessary sensory inputs needed for the hands.
In only a few hours after injection Botox reaches the central nervous system. But it is still supposedly ‘safe’?
We form empathy and feel connected to others by copying other peoples facial expressions when they talk to us. This helps us to understand other peoples thoughts and feelings and creates emotional intelligence. A recent study shows that women with Botox had a harder time empathising with others. This could also have potential effects on future parenting as babies learn emotions and empathy from looking at and copying their caregiver’s facial expressions.
When Botox is injected into your face it is taken up by your nerves and then over time, it can block neurotransmitters to your brain. Smiling and laughing gives your brain hits of happy endorphins, serotonin and dopamine. This also helps your body to relax and reduces stress. Blocking necessary neurotransmitters is a recipe for depression!
I have found many reports online of women suffering from many neurological conditions directly after Botox use including anxiety, depression, migraines, brain fog, severe fatigue, overactive nerves and many other symptoms of over toxicity from Botox use.
5 Natural Alternatives To Botox:
Much like your body, there is a lot to be said for working out your face and all of your facial muscles. Doing yoga, especially all of those inverted poses can help to increase blood and circulation to the muscles on your face.
1. Facial Yoga:
There is also a range of other programmes and exercises that you can do to help to improve your facial muscles and help to create smooth, line-free skin naturally. Check out the yoga face book below!
I am one of those strange people who likes to google ages when I watch TV shows and movies! Years ago I was watching the show revenge and fascinated by the Victoria Grayson character played by Madeline Stow. I could tell that she was an older woman but she looked simply amazing for her age. I was thinking that she was around forty but was shocked when I read her age as fifty-five (she is now sixty-three). She credited facial exercises for keeping her beautiful face structure and her skin looks incredible – so it must work!
2. Micro Needling:
Derma rolling or micro needling is said to be a natural, at home way to help combat lines. There is an art to it so you will need to research and start with the smallest roller and then build up (I am planning a whole post on this soon). You can also go and get this done professionally if you are a bit scared to do it by yourself!
3. Facial Acupuncture:
Facial acupuncture can also be an effective way to address lines in a non-toxic way. It also is said to help boost collagen, enhance blood flow to the face, and helps to even out skin tone.
4. Use Sunblock:
The best way to deal with lines, however, is to simply prevent them in the first place! Every morning put sunblock on your face, neck, chest and the backs of your hands plus become a hat person!
5. Meditation/Yoga:
Practice meditation and yoga to regularly relax your facial muscles. When we are stressed we do silly things like regularly frown and clench our jaw.
Make time to laugh and relax regularly! Don’t worry too much about those laugh lines they will add to your natural beauty as you age ♥
Links:
Please note: Botox is also heavily tested on animals. The main provider Allergan is looking into non-animal testing in certain countries but all other companies still test. The mice that they test on are subjected to horrific abuse, are paralysed and then often don’t live past the testing process so thousands of animals are dying just for this product alone. It is estimated that 300,000 mice die for Botox each year.
The Yoga Face book I have seen recommended many times on my online travels!
Photo by Fleur Kaan on Unsplash
*Last Page Update: 19/05/22*