New York Botox Safety Hinges on Treatment Provider
We’ve all heard the Botox horror stories: the woman who claimed she couldn’t close her eyes after receiving Botox injections; people who blame Botox for stroke-like facial paralysis; and patients who complain that Botox has turned their face into an inhuman mask, leaving them looking like a caricature of their true self. Botox has become such a phenomenally popular New York cosmetic treatment that most consumers seem to have forgotten that Botox can entail serious medical risks and may cause life-threatening side effects.
Adding to consumer confusion is the fact that Botox injections are offered not only by physicians who lack specific training and experience in facial plastic surgery, but by people with no medical credentials whatsoever. Today, Botox injections are being offered at day spas, nail salons and home parties and some people are even injecting themselves. Such cavalier application of a procedure best performed by board-certified New York facial plastic surgeons places Botox patients at unnecessary risk and can lead to some of the disastrous results that have caught the media’s attention.
Magazine ads for Botox are clear about the potential medical risks of its use, cautioning patients about potential side effects in safety statements. Possible side effects noted in ads for Botox include:
- Weakening of facial and/or throat muscles that can cause problems with breathing, speaking or swallowing that be severe enough to cause death.
- Long-term swallowing problems that can continue for months.
- Spread of toxic effects to other parts of the body that can cause permanent muscle weakness, vision problems, drooping eyelids, change or loss of voice, speech problems, loss of bladder control and trouble breathing.