What is Botox?

What is Botox? rnBy Mr Alex Karidis MD FRCS 'What is Botox?'is a very commonly asked question and every year thousands of patients visit cosmetic surgeons asking for help to rid them of unwanted lines and wrinkles on their face. The procedure itself is very straight forward and takes only a matter of minutes. Indeed you can see a real Botox procedure, before and after, by clicking on the following YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDDVX4xef5Arn rnBut why is Botox so effective when it comes to getting rid of wrinkles? When injected into a given area, Botox reversibly blocks the impulses from the nerves to the tiny facial muscles that are related to facial lines and thus stops the muscles contracting. Instead the muscles relax and the overlying skin remains smooth and unwrinkled. rnBotox is very safe to use and has been steadily gathering popularity successfully since first used in1982 by ophthalmologists to treat nervous twitching of the eyelid and lazy eye. In fact, each year thousands of patients receive Botox treatments for a variety of other conditions but over the last 10 years it is better known for reversing the visible signs of ageing. Botox has more recently been used successfully to combat a whole host of other problems such as the problem of excessive sweating of the underarms, palms and even soles, headaches, muscle spasms, bladder dysfunctions etc. 'How long does Botox take to work?' Botox itself takes about seven days to fully work and which is something I explain to all my patients. Once it has started to work it lasts for about three months. For more information please visit my blog or check out my latest video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDDVX4xef5Arn