Botox (botulinum toxin)

Q. I hear more and more about botox, botulinum toxin, botulinum-based creams, etc. Can you tell me more?

A. Botox is the commercial name of botulinum neurotoxin. There are seven types of botulinum neurotoxin. The ones that can be used in humans and are currently found on the market are type A (Vistabex, Vistabel, Botox, Botoxin, Dysport) and type B (Myobloc and Neurobloc).

In Italy, the use of botulinum toxin was authorized by the Ministry of Health in 2004 limited to only one kind of medication named Vistabex (in Italy), Botox (in England and in the United States) or Vistabel (in France), which can be used only by a specialist in plastic surgery, dermatology, neurology or maxillofacial surgery.

Botulinum toxin is a medication that allows the temporary inhibition of the mimic muscles of the face, thus reducing the formation of worry lines. It is also used to control excess sweeting (hyper hidrosis).

Botulinum-based creams, recently advertised in newspapers and magazines, have a low concentration of botulinum-derived substances; for this reason, they are not very effective.

Q. Is botulinum toxin / botox safe?

A. Yes. At first, botulinum toxin was used in medicine to prevent neuromuscular spasms of the eyelids and to correct strabismus, but from 1987 it began to be used in the United States in cosmetic surgery.

Since then, no serious side effects have ever emerged in relation to the use of this drug but, as happens with all drugs, occasionally patients may show allergies and intolerance to the toxin but providing botox is administered in a controlled, medical facility this will not produce drastic consequences.