In general, people would rather stay away from anything that contains the word ?toxin? in name or description. However, thanks largely to plastic surgery, botulinum toxin, or botox, injections are rapidly becoming one of the most commonly requested procedures for cosmetic surgery. This is because the toxin, in controlled amounts and doses, has an effect that is eerily similar to a muscle relaxant. This effect, when properly achieved and used on the right areas of the face, can stretch the skin, removing wrinkles and generally making someone look a lot younger than they actually are. Of course, with vast numbers of people being obsessed with looking young (since they can't exactly stay young), it is really not a surprise that botox injections have become so popular.

At close inspection, one should realize that Botox is a potentially harmful substance since it is a toxin. Botox injections are relatively simple affairs, provided that the injection contains a suitably diluted variation of the standard formula for the toxin. However, if it doesn't, or the surgeon injects a bit too much of the toxin, then there's a problem. Incidentally, that sort of situation is what prompted a number of groups to ask that appropriate warning labels and information be publicly disseminated as part of selling or using botox for cosmetic purposes.

The toxin initially works by acting as a muscle relaxant on the areas it comes into contact with, though there is a major difference. Unlike pharmaceutical muscle relaxant medication, the wrong amount or concentration can do more than just relax the muscles. Botulinum toxin is capable of shutting down the muscles entirely, leaving parts of the body completely paralyzed. While this might be good for temporarily removing wrinkles, if the toxin spreads beyond the intended area, people are liable to lose the ability to move facial and jaw muscles. A number of cases have also been reported where the toxin managed to spread beyond the head and into the throat, causing patients great difficulty in swallowing and moving their necks.

There have also been deaths related to botox injections. While the details of how these deaths came about are protected by a number of medical privacy laws, some have come forward to reveal that botox was the cause of death. Most experts speculate that death is caused by an overdose of botox, which then manages to spread from the injected area and into other parts of the body, possibly through the bloodstream. Along the way, the muscle relaxant-like properties take effect and slowly cause paralysis. A number of concerned groups are saying that numerous patients have already been hospitalized by the injections, with a total of sixteen patients being the known body count.