Thank you for your question.
You’re asking about the duration effect of Botox® and you’re asking about whether
or not there’s an effect if someone is bedridden.
Well, I can certainly give you my answer to patients who ask this question every day in
my practice.
A little bit of background, I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial
plastic and reconstructive surgeon.
I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years.
I’m amongst my fellow colleagues in my specialty, we’re amongst the first to use Botox® so
I’ve been using it for patients since 1993.
And when I mention about asking this question every day, basically it’s about the longevity.
The bedridden part of the question is actually kind of unusual.
But I think to really understand this, first there is some basic science that is related
to how this works.
But essentially, Botox® relaxes muscles.
It’s a neurotoxin.
It binds to very specific receptors that prevent the nerve from telling the muscle to contract.
That being said, in the lifestyle of someone who typically does Botox®, let’s say on
the face, they do it for crow’s feet lines, for forehead lines, for frown lines, very
common areas, typically, the effect reaches a peak in about two weeks.
Now when you ask how long does the effect last, well technically, the effect can last
as long as 6 months.
But on average, I tell my patients that the benefit that you like seeing pretty wears
off by 4 months.
So generally, people for these types of treatments does it once every 4 months.
Some people are too busy or they just don’t have the budget for it, they’ll come twice
a year.
The point is that, it’s not necessarily an on and off switch.
It’s a gradual progressive return of function.
Now, there is variation.
There are people where it wears off a little bit faster.
There are people for whom it lasts a little longer.
It’s sometimes comparable in some ways like injectable fillers like HA fillers, the hyaluronic
acid fillers.
The thing is, it always ends up individualized and it is also about what that individual
feels is the look and the function that they are comfortable with.
Typically, people who want to maintain a certain look and more consistency, they’ll come
sooner.
They’ll come around 3 months.
Others will wait like 4 or 6 months.
So, as far as the question about being bedridden, I would really say that there really is no
significance to that because it doesn’t necessarily have to do anything with activity.
Sometimes, when someone has a situation where the Botox® may have worked a little too well
in an area they don’t want it in, they feel like they can try to move that area or try
to get the muscles to move doesn’t really make a difference.
The protein, there’s actually binding with the receptor that goes away on its own through
your body’s internal molecular processes.
So it’s not likely that being bedridden will make much of a difference.
So I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck and thank you for your question.