Beverly Hills Wives Tales: The Truth About Botox
So You Know All Those Rules You Get Told Regarding What You Can Or Cannot Do After Botox? There Is No Solid Truth Behind Them.
“You Can’t Work Out.”
“Don’t Lay Down.”
“Move Your Face.”
“Don’t Go Into The Sauna.”
They Are All Bullshit. Five Years Ago I Stopped Telling Patients These Rules Because I Knew There Were No Studies Showing Them To Be True. I Was Most Worried About The Workout Restriction Since So Many Of My Patients Are Gym Nuts. For Them, Missing A Day At The Gym Is The Equivalent Of Me Missing A Meal – It’s Literally The End Of The World. Sure Enough, There Were No Issues When Someone Had A Spin Class Or Pilates Sesh Right After Some BoBo. I Even Had A Patient Reach Out To Me On Facebook Messenger Frantically Because He Had A Massage After Getting Botox Where His Face Was Pressed Against A Horseshoe Pillow For 90 Minutes. No Drama, No Issues. Why Do So Many Practitioners Give These Instructions Then?
- It’s What They Were Taught. In Medicine We Have A Strong Tendency To Parrot What We Were Taught To Say. Although There Is Continuing Medical Education, The Bulk Of Our Instruction Giving Was Learned In Our Training, And We Just Regurgitate What We Were Taught.
- Bad Results. This Way, If Some Bad Outcome Is Encountered, We Can Ask The Patient If They Violated Any Of The Instructions They Were Given And If So, Then The Bad Outcome Is The Patient’s Fault, Not The Fault Of The Practitioner.
I’m Not Telling You To Argue With The Person That Does Your Botox. I’m Just Telling You Don’t Worry So Much About The Rules You Get Told. At This Point, They Are A Charming Tradition, And Like Many Traditions, They Are Not Based Strongly In Fact.