Botox – How does it work

Find out how Botox works in Wrinkle Reducing Treatments from Adrian Richards, Leading Plastic Surgeon for Aurora Clinics. For more information or should you wish to book a FREE Consultation with our specialist plastic surgeon, please call us on 01844 214362.

Botox – How does it work?

Hello. My name’s Adrian Richards. I’m a plastic surgeon and I’m the Medical Director of Aurora Clinics. Today I’m going to be talking a little bit about Botox and treatment and how does it physically work.

Botox, as I mentioned in previous video, is a protein released from the bacteria Clostridium botulinum bacteria which is present in nature. Each of the different of types of Botox works in essentially the same way. Nerves travel basically from the brain to where they’re going to action. The way they work is the nerve end and the muscle or the sweat gland are separated and they use a transmitter which is secreted in a little sort of balloon packages which travel between the two.

The nerve fires off these little particles which then tell the muscle or the sweat gland to fire off and produce either sweat or contract muscle. The neurotransmitter, the substance used in the balloons, in this case is called acetylcholine, bit of a long name, bit of a mouthful, but that’s unfortunately what it is. Botox, basically, prevents release of these little particles from the nerves. So the nerves can’t create the neurotransmitter. So then the muscle or sweat gland aren’t getting any signals to secrete sweat or contract. The acetylcholine affects the nerves but the nerves do recover, and after three to four months for muscle, or six months in the case of sweat glands, the nerves will recover to their full activity. So it is reversible.

That’s essentially how Botox works. Any nerves which don’t use acetylcholine for their neurotransmitter won’t be affected by Botox treatment. These are the sort of smooth muscles, other muscles in the body won’t be affected. If the Botox is injected over a nerve or away from the muscle or the sweat gland, there won’t be any activity because it only affects the juncture between the end of the nerve and the muscles. So, it only affects very locally.

The doses which are used in the treatment of these conditions are minuscule and are very safe. Although Botox is a potentially dangerous substance when used in high concentrations, in the doses we’re using is very, very safe. That’s one of the reasons you must go to a recognized practitioner, a respected practitioner who’s using the proper Botox in a very safe, secure environment.

I hope that’s clarified how Botox works. If you have any questions or queries about Botox or any other treatments we offer at Aurora Clinic, please don’t hesitate to contact us either via the website or by ringing us on 01844 214362. Thank you very much.