Can Botox Make You Happier?
Eliminate wrinkles, smooth the skin, and erase the traces that years leave on every face — Botox injections can work miracles in one’s appearance. That’s why Botox is one of the most popular aesthetic treatments going. But did you know that there’s another positive benefit of Botox — one that gets relatively little attention?
According to researchers from the University of Cardiff, injectible Botox can have a positive effect on the patient’s overall mood and state of mind. While the study falls short of calling Botox injectible happiness, it does point out that patients who had had Botox treatment (as compared to other aesthic procedures) reported significantly less depression, anxiety, or other negative emotions than those patients in the control group.
Botulinum Toxin A — the official name for Botox — when used in injections for frown lines paralyse the forehead muscles. This prevents frowning, one of the most common expressions associated with negativity, depression, and anxiety. The finding that these people are also happier supports the theory that our expressions feed back and impact on our emotions. By preventing you from frowning, the logic goes, Botox injections prevent the expression of negative emotions, resulting in a happier mood.
At this point, Botox injections are not being considered as a primary treatment for clinical depression or serious psychiatric disorders. However, one’s appearance plays a fundamental role in forming one’s self image: the old truism that when you look good, you feel good appears to have some basis in fact. It’s important to remember that just as the appearance altering effect of Botox is temporary, so is the mood altering effect. However, the relatively affordability of Botox treatments — particularly when coupled with other procedures during medical tourism trips to Thailand — makes this a relatively minor concern.
Flagging US Economy Makes Medical Tourism More Attractive
In a report issued late last month, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons states that the US recession has led to fewer patients opting to have cosmetic work done. What the report doesn’t address is the steadily increasing number of patients who opt to have cosmetic and aesthetic procedures done overseas, particularly in medical tourism destinations like Thailand.
Many patients, having found that a wide range of cosmetic and aesthetic procedures are available overseas for a fraction of the price they command in the US, are choosing to make the best use of their money. Traveling to Thailand allows the patient to have the same — or even more — work done for far less money: a wise economic decision.
The top five surgical procedures done in the US over the past year include breast augmentation, nose re-shaping or rhynoplasty, liposuction, eyelid reshaping, and tummy tucks. For non-invasive procedures, the five most popular are Botox treatments, hyaluronic acid fillers, chemical peel, laser hair removal, and microdermabrasion.
All of these procedures, both surgical and non-invasive, are available in Thailand and other medical tourism destination locations. Increasing in popularity here in the US are reconstructive procedures, which are increasingly covered by health insurance. This provides new opportunities for the patient; remain in the US and have insurance foot the bill for reconstructive procedures, and make the most out of one’s own out-of-pocket spending by traveling to Thailand for cosmetic and aesthetic procedures. The most popular reconstructive procedures includes tumor removal, laceration repair, scar revision, hand surgery, and breast reduction. Two of these procedures — scar revision and breast reduction — are readily available in Thailand.