Botox Gets A Whole Lot Scarier

Guh-reat. Last summer, I got botox in the name of journalism. It looked okay. Before I got the ‘tox, I had a pretty visible verticle line across the middle of my forehead and then a few little frowny lines near my eyebrows so I always just looked a teensy-weensy bit mad. I never really had much of problem with those lines, although it did occur to me to buy better sunglasses so I wouldn’t squint as much. Had the botox not been free, I wouldn’t have done it, but I never turn down anything free (even little unappetizing finger foods at parties!). Anyway, the botox made all the lines go away, which looked pretty good when I wasn’t trying to move my face. When I did try to move my eyebrows for example, only the very corners would go up a smidge. Think Joan Rivers. Yeah.

So even though I got the ‘tox for free and got paid for the journalism assignment, it turns out it may not have been worth it. Nicole Kidman, pay attention!

The research behind Botox initially showed that through the botulism toxin could potentially enter the blood stream, it could not travel into the brain. Except, uh yeah, maybe it can. According to Newsweek , “Researchers have discovered, after millions of people have received the drug, something fundamental about how Botox can act. Contrary to what turned up in preclinical testing, botulinum toxin can travel along neurons from the injection site into the brain, at least in lab animals.” Ruh. Roh. This scares me, as I do not want my brain to become Joan Rivers-like. Does anyone else find this information FREAKY?