BOTOX INJECTIONS

Can Botox Injections Make You “Happy”?

Botox treatments get rid of forehead wrinkles and lines, and crows’ feet,  by essentially paralyzing facial muscles. And, recent research has demonstrated that Botox can also help prevent new lines and wrinkles from forming. Botox is also being used in other innovative ways – including the treatment of  headaches, as well as to stop excessive sweating.

Now some clinicians are pursuing the novel idea that Botox can also improve a person’s mood, by eliminating the negative emotional feedback that frowning causes.

Put another way, it has long been held that smiling can improve one’s mood – so scientists are now asking the question: “can preventing frowning with Botox similarly lead to a happier disposition?”

Botox & ‘Facial Feedback’

The ‘facial feedback’ theory hypothesizes that the physical expression of an emotion – such as smiling or frowning – provides feedback to the brain that can reinforce, or even initiate, an emotional reaction. This not a new idea at all. In fact, as long ago as the 1870s, Charles Darwin wrote that “the free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it.”

Further, social psychology experiments that were conducted in the 1970s supported this idea with findings that even fake smiles seemed to boost a person’s mood.

Now, according to research published in the Journal of Psychiatric Research by Dr. Tillmann Krüger, a psychiatrist at Hannover Medical School, blocking frowning with Botox “breaks the feedback loop,” he says. And the result is improved mood and even decreased depression.

But this theory remains far from proven, as well as somewhat controversial in psychiatric circles.

Botox for Depression?

According to Dr. Krüger, in an analysis of the data they collected, the power of Botox to reduce depression was more than twice as strong as the best approved oral antidepressants.

Dr. Michelle Magid, a psychiatrist at the University of Texas, Austin, has gone so far as to prescribe Botox to dozens of patients in her psychiatric to treat depression. She claims data from five trials provide evidence that should “pave the way” for Botox to be used on a widespread basis to help treat depression in psychiatric patients.

Dr. Magid and Dr. Krüger have both posited that Botox may be an excellent alternative for depressed patients who can’t (or don’t want to) tolerate the many side effects of pharmaceutical antidepressants (like impotence, weight gain, lethargy, etc.)

Dr. Krüger and his colleagues have also speculated that Botox could also improve mood by affecting the nervous system directly.

However, other mental health professionals aren’t convinced. Nicholas Cole, a social psychologist at Stanford University, published a response to this study. In that report he came to the opposite conclusion about the value of Botox for treating depression.

Dr. Cole has expressed concern that psychiatrists who use Botox to treat depression may give patients false hope and/or neglect more established “tried and true” psychiatric treatments.

So, the final verdict is still out on whether Botox works well enough on depression to justify using it as a clinical treatment.

Get Happy with Botox | Southfield, MI Area

But, whatever research eventually reveals, it is universally agreed that Botox can make a person happier by improving their self-image and increasing their self-confidence.

Similarly, it can be argued that Botox injections can positively change how the world responds to a person. People who present a frown or scowl are more likely to be perceived as grumpy or negative – while people who have eliminated a frowny or angry expression face with Botox may be more approachable and more warmly received by both acquaintances and strangers.

If you would like to take years off your appearance – and say goodbye to “frown lines” and wrinkles that make you look angry or unapproachable – schedule a Botox appointment at AMAE Med Spa today!

Birmingham Board Certified Plastic Surgeon Dr. Ali offers the best and most advanced technologies in facial fillers. If you live in the greater Southfield, MI area, schedule a consultation to see if Botox is right for your appearance goals. Then relax in our luxurious MedSpa, while we make you look and feel younger and even more beautiful!

Botox Injections| Southfield, MI Area: 248.335.7200