<p>The above article has me wondering…am I the only person who is too afraid to inject a known toxic into my face?</p>
<p>I’m not judging those who use Botox, I look in the mirror and see a middle-aged woman and would love to turn back the clock. Getting old is hard on one’s self-image. I would love to find something to erase those lines. But my intuition keeps telling me that there could very well be long-term side effects to this that haven’t come to light. </p>
<p>A while back I decided to see what I could find out about Botox. I came across a study that showed that Botox (when injected in the face of mice) migrated to the brain stem. </p>
<p>I also saw this disclaimer on WebMD:</p>
<p>There are no known serious side effects from Botox. But be aware that it is too soon to know whether any long-term problems will result from repeatedly injecting a paralyzing agent into the muscles.</p>
<p>If you go to forums where people are posting their experiences with Botox - there are a large number of positive comments but also a fair number of unwanted side effects -things that sound sort of serious.</p>
<p>I also worry about the ‘fillers’ like restylane and juvaderm. Am I the only ‘wimp’ on the forum? Just curious about what others think about this. I could afford to do this and wouldn’t mind investing the time into it but I just can’t get past that fear. OTOH, I also worry I will eventually be the only one in my peer group who looks my real age :(</p>
<p>I think that as with many other things, if you have it done by a qualified doctor and in moderation, it will be okay. Vaccines are also a known toxin, but the good outweighs the bad. </p>
<p>On the othre hand, I have seen what happens when people go overboard.</p>
<p>^^LOL. No Botox for me. I’m pretty content with myself. I’m aging but I’m…aging so OK I’m not going to look 28 again but I don’t look 75 either. I’m not a wimp, but I’m not ready for restoration and may never be maybe because I grew up with “heros” like Diane Keaton and Susan Sarandon.</p>
<p>^And Meryl Streep. She looked very appropriate for her age in “It’s complicated.” She looked good but not in a “I’m trying to look like I’m thirty” way. I also think Sally Fields is aging gracefully.</p>
<p>I think older women are beautiful without Botox. Older faces have so much more character! In a figure drawing class I took we had to do self-portraits and all the older women complained about how they had to draw every wrinkle. They said it must be nice for me to have smooth skin because I’m young. I told them that a young face is not nearly as interesting to draw as an old face. Older women have been through so much more and it shows on their face. </p>
<p>I know America in particular is a culture that values youth, but I admire women who don’t try to mask their face. Maybe it’s because I’m an artist, but I believe all women are beautiful and I wish women wouldn’t put themselves down because they look their age. I always want to tell my middle aged friends: So what if you don’t look the same as when you were twenty-something? You’re still hot!</p>
<p>I’m too young for Botox, but I am a fair-skinned girl who refuses to tan despite being surrounded by bronze-skinned women. I can’t say if it’s because it’s unhealthy, requires too much time/effort/money, or I just don’t feel like conforming to one single idea of attractiveness, but I just don’t want to. They share a similar relationship if you think about it.</p>
<p>I hope this isn’t too much of a tangent from the Botox topic.</p>
<p>NOne for me, either. I earned these wrinkles and no one can take them for me :). Plus, the expressions of eyes are the windows to the soul (to paraphrase). The idea of freezing them really dismays me.</p>
<p>Botox creeps me out much more than some procedures that are far more invasive. The idea of a facelift isn’t so gross to me – it’s taking your own skin and putting it back where it used to be. I don’t know if I’d do it, but I don’t find the concept upsetting. But paralyzing your facial muscles is totally creepy and scary to me.</p>
<p>This is how I want to look in my 60’s…hell, I wouldn’t mind looking this way now!:</p>
<p>I had botox this spring and I am going to get it again when it wears off.
Because I have poor vision I squint alot and had strong vertical lines between my brows resulting in people often thinking I was angry when I was far from it.
My H often accused me of being angry and I became tired of denying it.
He hasn’t made that claim since I had the injections. :)</p>
<p>In my opinion, it’s often overused. It makes people look odd and “done,” not younger or better. Often you will see the “bunny lines” (odd wrinkles on the bridge of the nose when smiling) as evidence of botox use, and that just looks bizarre to me.</p>
<p>It’s probably fine in moderation, but too many people don’t seem to understand that less is more.</p>
<p>I personally don’t mind wrinkles. It’s the sagging of the skin that dismays me in myself.</p>
<p>Although I wouldn’t get botox for all the reasons people have mentioned, plus I hate needles, I can understand emeraldkity’s reason for getting it. Wrinkles are fine, smile lines are charming, but sometimes people get expression lines that are very offputting. I had those frown lines between my eyes too, but they went away once I started doing yoga regularly! So, no botox for me.</p>
<p>I think Botox is fine and so are the fillers. It all depends on how good your doc is in knowing the right levels. I’m too freaked out by needles to do it (despite my tattoos) but if I felt that I had wrinkles or sagging issues beyond what I feel is appropriate for my appearance AND age, I would do it. I do get a little worried about long-term effects, though.</p>
<p>Good for you, EK. I am not against improving ones self, but I do hate the plastic faces we see in TV/Movies- Meg Ryan was adorable, now she is a duck, and many others the same. Really one of the worst was Jack Lemmon in the Grumpy Old Men sequel, his eyes were just wrong. It is the wrongness that is scary about some of the injectables or facial work.</p>
<p>I wish women would age gracefully in public so that the rest of us wouldn’t look worse in comparison. I do wish I had less wrinkles, but grew up in sunny SoCal, so what else can I expect!</p>
<p>I’m not so sure Botox is all that effective against sagging skin on the face. I’m afraid that noticeable sagging actually requires a face lift to correct. I’m not mentally there yet. If I could get a lower face lift and still look like myself, I’d do it. I have a fear, though, of looking “done” or bizarre like so many do. You’d think that these celebrities, with all of their money and connections, would only use the best of surgeons, but based on many of their results, they don’t always find the best. Or maybe they just have too many procedures and even the best surgeons can’t make it look natural by the fifth time.</p>
<p>That’s the thing that scares me. If the people who have all the money and connections can’t get it right, how am I going to find the ‘best’? Personally, I think a lot of the results depend upon your own underlying bone structure and skin texture. Some people (like Sarah Palin) just naturally have high full cheekbones and deep set eyes, so a face lift might make them look a lot younger than their age. On the other hand, some people just look weird, IMHO. </p>
<p>I think I can usually tell when someone has had a face lift. They might look younger (some do and some don’t) but you can still tell. Although, I would still be more comfortable getting a face lift than using Botox and fillers. I could go for a lower face lift. Don’t have many wrinkles at all - I suspect thanks to daily heavy-duty use of sunscreen for the last 10 years but it’s hard to control the sagging neck and jowls.</p>
<p>To me the BIG Botox freaks are often MEN!! Also the male facelifts. SO fake looking and I don’t get the point because me tend to age well anyway. I’ll never forget when Jerry Jones (owner of Dallas Cowboys) got his facelift. It was terrible. The jokes on the radio were so hilarious that I could barely run while I listened to my (at the time) Walkman.</p>
<p>^^^^I saw Jerry Jones and his wife eating dinner one night at a table near ours. He was probably a couple of months post op. I couldn’t take my eyes off of him, and not for good reason. It was a little scary. His wife, on the other hand, looked fabulous.</p>
<p>There have been studies that Botox can reduce the frequency and severity of migraine headaches. It will be interesting to see if it becomes approved for that.</p>
<p>So many women in my neighborhood have had it, it is ridiculous. I would like to…but I’ve had two kinds of cancer, so injecting more poisons in my body…not so much.</p>
<p>But in a few years…a facelift. Not a question about that.</p>
<p>I’ve heard that, plus they use it for several other conditions right now. I think Cerebral Palsy is one of them. Generally it is used to treat spasticity. There have been some bad outcomes ( several reported deaths) but those were generally at much higher doses than is usually used for cosmetic purposes.</p>
<p>I did, however, just run across this article published this week:</p>
<p>I don’t know what to think - except for the moment it might be better to avoid any drugs that are not essential to my health or well-being. After the estrogen fiasco, I’ve developed a healthy skepticism of the drug industry.</p>
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