Does BOTOX Kill?

Recently the re-emergence of the news regarding the "botox death" which happened in singapore on 23 Mar 2019 havr given Malaysians quite a shock (again). Especially with their clickbait (and misleading) titles. In truth, the autopsy has revealed it was death due to EDTA injection which is commonly used for heavy metals chelation therapies (and not botox, mind you)

So what exactly is botox?

We have clients who comes very worried they will end up dead or looking like our dear ex-first lady R*sm@h.

So let me help enlighten you a little bit.

BOTOX is just a popular tradename for a neurotoxic protein produced by the clostridium botulinum bacteria, known as botulinum toxin. There are 8 types but types A and B are most popularly used in medicine.

In Malaysia there are 3 main brands namely Xeomin, Dysport and Botox. This treatment have been done for nearly 30 years with almost 3 million injections annually!

Of course like any medicine out there, it has risk and benefits. In the right hands (and i do mean right hands like fully certified and trained docs) , we inject only minimal amounts (not enough to reach the fatal dose) to get good cosmetic results.

Let me show you a short clip as to how botox works in our body!

In simple terms, the toxin works by blocking the nerve pathway so "signals" to move the muscles are blocked. Imagine it like a roadblock. Once these roadblocks are established within 24 to 48 hours of injection, you will see our injected muscles gradually stop moving, lasting results for about 3 to 6 months.

Does it travel to the whole face and make the face "hard/frozen look"?

Absolutely not. The injection is very localised and will not spread. Awesome science is it not?

So back to the question, does BOTOX kill?

The answer is ... yes and no. Yes, IF you were given a lethal dose, directly into the bloodstream. And NO, you don't get it when injecting it for cosmetic use. Why? Because the lethal dose is approximately 39units per kg. Which means for botox to kill an average female of about 50kg, it will need = 39x50kg = 1950units of botox, equivalent to almost 20 bottles of botox since each bottle is 100 units.

Hence, rest assured that you are pretty safe when you go for your usual anti-wrinkle treatment sessions.