Medical uses of Botox

Botulinum toxin or commonly known as Botox is a neurotoxin used to paralyze muscular activity. It’s been more than hundred years since this product is under research and in the last 3 decades, Botox has been popularized mainly for its aesthetic usage.

If you ask anyone about what is Botox, the most common reply is likely to be that Botox is a wrinkle treatment procedure done with injections. That’s in fact true, as Botox relaxes facial muscles and cures facial lines and wrinkles that appear due to aging such as forehead lines, bunny lines, neck chords, frown lines, cheek wrinkles etc. However, in reality, there’s much more to it. Botox can also provide various medical benefits.

Many of its uses have been discovered back in the last decade. Different studies have proven its authenticity of Botox’s effects. Major health governing bodies such as NHS (UK) and FDA (US) have approved Botox as remedy for certain disorders.

An interesting fact about Botox’s medical benefits is that the conditions it treats have either few or no specific medications available. Let’s discuss some of the medical disorders which Botox can treat:

Blepharospasm

Commonly known as eye-twitching, Botox has been used as an off-label prescription but has been fruitful for the patients who could not benefit from other remedies. Botox works by blocking nerve signals that reach directly to the muscles causing blepharospasm. The results typically last for 3 months.

Bruxism

When your teeth clench by themselves particularly during sleep, it’s called bruxism. It can make your life difficult and may damage some of your teeth. Botox uses the same muscle paralyzing phenomenon to cure bruxism for about 6 months. An alternative to Botox for bruxism is wearing an NTI mouth guard which helps protect your teeth from damage however, clenching may still persist.

Temporomandibular Joint Disorder

The causes and symptoms of TMD are still unknown however if your masseter muscle is under a lot of physical stress, then it may become a reason for TMD. The pain is hard to bear; the remedies are few that include Botox. TMD stops as soon as nerve signals to the muscle are blocked.

Hyperhidrosis

It is a condition when you sweat excessively, no matter if it’s day or night, summer or winter. It occurs when nerves abnormally transmit more signals to the brain causing heavy amount of sweat. Botox has been a successful remedy for treating excessive sweating particularly on hands, feet and underarms.

Studies are still ongoing to find out more potential medical benefits of Botox. We could possibly find a cure for cancer in near future.