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Botox can help you burp, stop excessive sweating and treat more random health conditions
Botox is best known for smoothing wrinkles in the forehead, but did you know the injections have lots of other uses?
From helping you burp to curing excessive sweating, botox could be the answer to many strange health conditions.
Botox injections can help you burp
Botulinum toxin, more commonly known as botox, can help people who struggle to burp by relaxing the cricopharyngeal muscle, pain management physician and aesthetics expert Dr. Randa Jaafar explains in collaboration with�Certainly Health.
People who can’t belch have a condition called retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction, also known as ‘no burp syndrome’, which means the cricopharyngeus muscle at the top of the esophagus can’t relax, Yale Medicine reveals.
As a result, the muscle does not open to allow air to escape into the throat, which is what burping is. Researchers dont know what causes the condition, but it’s usually lifelong and can affect children and adults.
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Injecting 50 to 100 units of botox into the upper cricopharyngeal muscle can relax the muscle and enable someone with the condition to burp, relieving pain and discomfort. However, it is not FDA-approved specifically for this purpose.
Botox is a highly potent neurotoxic protein which is produced by a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum, MedlinePlus explains. Botulinum toxin is a very toxic substance but is safe in small, controlled amounts.
Botox can stop you sweating too
Botox can help people who sweat excessively too. Hyperhidrosis is a common condition where you sweat a lot, even when the body does not need to cool down, the NHS explains. It can affect the whole body or only certain areas.�
It’s caused when faulty�nerves trigger sweat glands to become�overactive. Botox injections can temporarily block these nerve signals that activate the sweat glands, stopping a person from excessively sweating.
The FDA approved botox for the treatment of�severe hyperhidrosis of the underarms in 2004 and research has shown an 82-87% decrease in underarm sweating when botox is used, the International Hyperhidrosis Society reveals.
Results usually start to become noticeable within 2 to 4 days, with full effects after 2 weeks. Armpit dryness typically lasts 4 to 12 months after the botox, but some research suggests it could last as long as 14 months.�
Botulinum toxin has also been used for excessive hand and foot sweating, but it’s not as effective as use in the underarms.
More random uses for botox
Botox can also be used to treat an overactive bladder by relaxing the bladder muscle, increasing its capacity and reducing frequency of urination.
It can help eye-switching too, also known as blepharospasm, which occurs when the eyelid muscles retract uncontrollably. Botox can target the orbicularis oculi muscle, which controls the opening and closing of the eyelids.
People suffering from arthritis could also benefit from botox injections. One 2020 study found it to be “safe and effective” for the treatment of chronic joint pain and it’s especially good at treating osteoarthritic knees.
