Dr. Walter Herzog, holds a bottle of Botox in his lab at the University of Calgary on Thursday, December 2, 2010. Herzog has completed new research that shows that over time botulinum toxin A use results in muscle weakness, atrophy and loss of contractile tissue in non-injected muscles far-removed from the injection site.CALGARY — Botox may be used to help smooth out wrinkles and give children with cerebral palsy more control over their muscles, but the injections themselves could be responsible for causing muscle weakness throughout the body, according to researchers at the University of Calgary.
A study soon to be published in the Journal of Biomechanics found that six months after rabbits had been given botulinum toxin A, they experienced muscle loss and atrophy.
And these side-effects weren’t limited to where the Botox was injected, said Rafael Fortuna, a kinesiology master’s degree student and lead author of the paper.
“Botox doesn’t seem to stay at a very specific site. It can affect muscles far away from an injection site,” said Fortuna.