Is there a risk for athletes doing exercise and taking botox treatment?

Question

A trained nurse administered an unknown (to me) amount of botox for cosmetic purposes to the facial area of a friend age 48 who had been an athlete all her life but when she went training for a run the next day, she developed some kind of paralysis and died of suffocation over a short period (foretold as 30 minutes). 2 autopsies found no cause of death and presumed protein poison leaving no trace.

Melvin Elson, MD · Answer

This is a very unfortunate incidence but has nothing to do with the injection of Botox. it is simply coincidental.  The man coming off the plane and having a heart attack did not have it because of the plane

Jesse E. Smith, MD, FACS · Answer

First of all, let me say that I am very sorry for your loss.  That is a true tragedy.  To date, and to my knowledge, there has been only one anaphylactic death from Botox.  That vial of Botox was mixed with Lidocaine, and it was felt that the real culprit was the Lidocaine.  It is also important to remember that Botox effects take about three days to really begin and set in; therefore, Botox was also a very unlikely cause.  Most faces are injected with 20-50 units of Botox.  Side effects of muscle weakness have been reported with the use of Botox, but this usually occurs in patients that we inject for headaches and muscle spasms whom receive greater than 80-100 units in and around the neck area.  Thank you for your question.

Carl A. Powell, DO, FACS, FAACS- Account Suspended · Answer

It is highly unlikely the Botox injections caused the death of your friend.  First, the amount of Botox injected for cosmetic purposes is very small and little gets into the blood stream.  In the event it were an allergic reaction to the Botox protein, she would have reacted to the injection much sooner than the next day.  Allergic reactions to Botox are very unusual and uncommon.  Actually, athletes with muscle spasms get Botox injections for muscle spasms (particularly soccer players) so they can continue to play their sport.  Suffocation most likely was caused by some sort of muscle spasm occluding her airway rather than relaxation of muscles.  This is a very unfortunate incident; however, I cannot think of a mechanism by which Botox would have caused your friend's death.

Is there a risk for athletes doing exercise and taking botox treatment?

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Is there a risk for athletes doing exercise and taking botox treatment?

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Everything you need to know about Botox

Our mission is to create a world where every investment in modern beauty is Worth It.