Your doctor may be considering botulinum injections to treat certain muscle spasms on your face or eyelids. It can also be used for some disorders of eye movement, such as lazy eye. Botulinum toxin is a standard treatment for spasmodic torticollis, a muscle spasm that causes the head and neck to pull in one direction.

You might have some soreness at the injection sites. If your injection sites get sore, you can take acetaminophen (brand name: Tylenol) or ibuprofen (brand names: Advil, Motrin, Nuprin). You can also put an ice pack on the painful area.

FDA and USDA-FSIS identified a problem with the canning process. The problem means it is possible that spores of the germ Clostridium botulinum were not killed during canning, so could grow and produced toxin. Many products contaminated with botulinum toxin do not taste or look any different than normal. Some taste bad because they contain other contaminants. Yes, most cases of botulism are caused by improperly prepared home-canned foods or traditional Alaskan Native foods.

Botulinum toxin A (Botox®) is a chemical produced by the Clostridium bacteria. Botox® is a protein derivative of the toxin, which when injected into a muscle causes it to become weakened or inactivated. It stops the muscle from functioning by blocking neuromuscular transmission i.e. stops the chemical messages from the nerve to the muscle. Likewise, when injected into the skin, it blocks the action of the nerves that supply the eccrine glands thus preventing them from producing sweat.

A2: Botox is a therapeutic toxin and is used in quite large doses to release spastic muscles in children affected with cerebral palsy and adults affected with spastic limbs as a consequence of brain damage. There have been problems with Botulinium toxin internationally. This has been in cases where the supply of the toxin was not through a registered or legal supplier. It was probably also administered by a person not properly qualified or trained to prescribe and administer Botox.

There can be momentary pain during each injection. Some are bothered by the pain more than others. EMLA cream (a prescription topical anesthetic) can be placed on the area approximately 1 ½ hours prior to injection and may be helpful. A cold compress (or a bag of frozen peas) applied to the injection site after the injections may also be helpful.

Most physicians start injecting with a low dosage to avoid possible side effects, increasing it as needed. If the first set of injections is not satisfactory, the physician should be notified so that he/she can personalize the treatments to suit the individual patient.

Botulinum toxin is a poison derived from bacteria. It acts to decrease messages from nerve cells to muscles. It is used in medicine in very low doses to limit muscle activity. It is injected into the muscle responsible for spasticity by a specialist familiar with its use. It then takes about a week to see results. Most patients will respond and find it easier to move the joint following the injection.

Most people find that they have no or minimal side effects. The needle used to inject is tiny but some patients do have some pain and minor bruising over the injection site, this settles after a few days. One of the more serious side effects is excessive weakness. This may limit the previous usefulness of the limb injected. This however is temporary and will resolve over weeks to months. If patients require repeated injections they may develop immunity to botulinum toxin.

Botulinum toxin is a therapeutic muscle-relaxing agent that helps reduce the involuntary contractions characteristic of dystonia. It is injected into specific muscles where it acts to weaken muscle activity sufficiently to reduce a spasm but not enough to cause paralysis.

BOTOX® is Allergan's brand of botulinum toxin type A. A brand of botulinum toxin type B is also now available. The two toxins are different in several ways:

Discuss it with your injecting physician. If he/she is not willing to work with you, or if after several attempts at solving the issues, you're still not satisfied, you may need to go to a different physician.

Injections should be covered (to some extent) by Medicare and insurance. If a patient receives BOTOX® and does not have insurance or the resources to pay for it, Allergan will reimburse the physician for the BOTOX®. If the physician will not waive the fee for injecting the BOTOX®, the patient will have to pay that fee. For reimbursement information, contact the BOTOX hotline:

Yes, many patients choose to have both treatments at the same time. The areas treated are usually complimentary but not identical.

The short answer is No, however it is always a good idea to make sure that the usual vaccinations are up-to-date (the ones that you get during childhood ? polio, tetanus etc.). If you are coming from an area that is suffering an outbreak such as Yellow fever, you will need to be inoculated.

This really depends on where you choose to go. As we are not medical experts we cannot give out official advice - so talk to your doctor, who will be happy to advise on what you may need. Don't let injections put you off - you'll be glad you had them once you are enjoying yourself abroad!