Newsweek, ABC, NBC, the New York Times and countless other reports are buzzing about some new studies concerning the use of Botox to treat depression.
Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, LLC, stresses that only a small amount of studies have yet claimed botox to be a treatment, much less a cure, for depression. This week’s blog celebrates the possibilities of using Botox as a tool for the treatment of depression disorder.
Botox, The Smooth Operator…Put simply, Botox has neurotoxins that block nerves, stopping the “signals” to the muscles to contract. This is why the wrinkles smooth out and disappear, and age seems to retreat.The blocked nerves blunt the ability to frown, a common symptom of depression.
Dr. Eric Finzi, M.D., PhD., declared, “If you can prevent the negative signals that occur when someone frowns, the brain interprets this as meaning that things are better.” It is like a feed-back loop. Anyone who has lived the words “Smile Though Your Heart Is Breaking or listened to “Put On A Happy Face,” knows that mood can be influenced by facial expression, just like facial expression can be influenced by mood.
Botox, The Mood Elevator…The landmark research on Botox and depression was established in 2006, by the above mentioned Dr. Eric Finzi,who is a board certified dermasurgeon. Only ten patients participated in his research study: nine women with major depression and one with bipolar disorder. To read more details of the study, click here.
He injected their “frowning muscles” between the eyebrows with Botox.
The reuslts were dramatic. Within 2 months, the nine depressed women no longer showed any evidence of depression, and the woman with bi-polar disorder said that her frame of mind had improved. For a story about one of these patients, and her personal reactions to the treatment, you can click to check out an article in the Washington Post.
Why did Dr. Finzi’s Botox seem to work? Skeptics about the Botox treatment believed it worked because of the “If you look better, you feel better” philosophy in our culture. Others believed that when we appear happy, society treats us differently and the social acceptance combats depression.
Botox, Depression Terminator?…For a fascinating Cambridge study involving psychological mood assessment tests, click this source. This study helps to prove that there is a profound connection between facial expression and the endurance of pain. Time Magazine put it this way: “Facial expressions control emotions, as well as the other way around.”
Psychiatrist Norman Rosenthal, of Capital Clinical Research Associates, is continuing to research the connection between Botox and depression alleviation.”There are so many ways to treat depression, and of course the mainstay is antidepressants, and often times these are insufficient. There are still some people left feeling depressed. So we really do need novel, innovative ways to treat depressed people.” Will Botox be one of these innovations? Only time and many more research studies will prove or disprove the anti-depressant buzz about Botox.
Orlando Cosmetic Surgery,LLC, has found that there are significant studies progressing in Switzerland, and in Houston, TX. If you would like to see some statistics, check here and see the Texas numbers here. In Florida, Dr. Orlando Cicilioni at Orlando Cosmetic Surgery, LLC, summed up the best scientific and practical conclusions about the use of Botox as a treatment for depression,“Though early in the research stage and not yet an approved medical indication, it sheds some hope.” For millions of Americans who suffer with depression that “hope,” like Botox, is a beautiful thing.
We thank our readers, and we promise to keep you posted about the many benefits of Botox treatments. Its beauty is more than skin deep, and we will be bringing you some more fascinating information in future blogs. We would be so pleased if you would click one of our buttons to share us with your friends on your favorite social network.
