As the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) is set to approve Botox in the treatment of severe migraines, it seems timely to look at whether Botox is safe.

Any consideration of the safety of Botox has to start with two simple facts. First, Botox is of course a highly toxic protein, albeit a highly purified one. It is always administered in diluted form. Second, Botox has been used in thousands of procedures, both cosmetic and medical since 1980.

However, it is Botox’s potential to treat and alleviate a wide range of medical conditions that is causing some to question the safety of Botox. In the words of one expert with fifty years of studying the toxin under his belt, it is “extremely poisonous and long lasting..especially with rather large doses, you’ve got to be very careful.”

You just have to look at the range of clinical trials underway to see that drug companies and the medical profession are keen to explore Botox’s full potential. Overactive bladder, MS related tremors, urinary incontinence are just some of the applications being tested. When used to alleviate muscle spasms and tension in large muscle groups it’s used in much stronger doses. Around 2009 it became apparent that higher strength doses could produce life threatening symptoms including difficulty swallowing and breathing.

There is also some concern that not enough is understood about how the drug actually works. It was long believed that the action of Botox was limited to the injection site and possibly neighboring muscles (at higher doses). But animal studies have shown that botulinum toxin can travel from nerve cells in whisker muscles to the brain. As a result of these tests and others, safety information for Botox now includes a warning that Botox can cause serious symptoms far from the injection site.

But it remains unclear if botulinum toxin causes harmful side effects by also traveling between neurons, as well as spreading diffusely in muscles.
The fact that Botox is so widely used for minor cosmetic procedures should cause little concern.

But what of the bigger picture? If the toxin were to be used for an even wider range of medical interventions it would be extremely cost effective for both the drug companies and governments.  However caution should be the watchword: the toxins pathway isn't’t fully understood, it stays in the body for a long time and individuals reacts differently to it.

If you're thinking of getting botox, there is more to it that looking for the cheapest online or judging by the clinics nurses uniforms. You really need to get all the facts before you can make a decision.