A Real Botox Risk

We are remarkably adept at reading facial expressions; they add immeasurable meaning to what we say. Too much Botox® inhibits your ability to express yourself and there is more to beauty than just smooth skin.

Of all the risks of Botox, the most salient is the inability to make facial expressions. For instance, I saw a woman in my clinic this week for an unrelated skin problem. (No, not the woman pictured above, I’m not that famous).

“Aren’t you a little young to be my dermatologist?” she asked, staring at me blankly.

I wasn’t sure if she was serious or joking because her face was frozen from Botox.

“No, I’ve got my driver’s license now, so my mother doesn’t have to drop me off at work,” I replied dryly.

“That’s funny,” she said, staring blankly at me.

Now I was concerned. I thought it was funny. Was it funny? Maybe it wasn’t funny.

Her Botox was keeping us from understanding each other. We’ve all seen people like her at the mall, in the grocery store, and as the subject of countless TV sitcoms: they have frozen faces that are unnatural and often unattractive. To get a sense of how important facial expressions are, check out this cool computer simulation. You’ll be amazed at how much information is conveyed through a computer animated face just by raising or lowering the eyebrows.

Think about this the next time you go for your Botox treatment: A little Botox can be beautiful. A lot of Botox can be bad.

And it is just as important to be understood as to be seen.

You might also like:

I’m on Oprah. Er, well, in Oprah anyway.

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Photo from http://socialitelife.celebuzz.com/ (Apologies to Ms. Kidman, but she is the well known example today).

April 11, 2008 | Filed Under Health and Beauty, Women's Skin Care 

Comments

6 Responses to “A Real Botox Risk”

  1. rlbates on April 11th, 2008 5:53 am

    I try to tell patients this. Some don’t get it.

  2. devorrah on April 11th, 2008 10:17 am

    What about the recent news items stating that Botox travels to the brain, at least in mice? Yikes.

  3. Trusted.MD Network on April 12th, 2008 9:51 am

    Botox…

    And the problems with facial expression….

  4. spynster57 on April 12th, 2008 5:49 pm

    Not be too catty, but I’ve been watching Dancing with the Stars and wonder if this is why Priscilla Presley never has a reaction to the judges? meow…..

  5. Lalla Mira on April 14th, 2008 11:14 am

    Reminds me of the lady who looks like Barbie due to too many surgeries, on Oprah. The lady told Oprah that she put an end to her obsession with surgeries and Botox and stuff. Then, at some point, Oprah wondered why the lady’s forehead didn’t move at all during their talk, although she expressed different kinds of emotions. The lady then confessed that she had a tiny shot of Botox.
    Ah!

  6. Christine on April 16th, 2008 7:24 am

    I am cracking up, you are definitely funnier than Dr. Oz, and you are also 100% correct. I’m seriously afraid of quite a few of the people I see around me here in the OC. It’s like being surrounded by zombies or something.

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