Botox – used for a celebrity quick-fix, to remove wrinkles, to regain the illusion of youth…can this “miracle” injection be used for better things – to treat spastic paralysis?
Spastic paralysis commonly occurs after a stroke, brain injury or spinal cord injury. It damages the area of the nervous system that controls and coordinates the muscular movements that allow us to do such basic acts as walking and gripping. Spastic paralysis creates stiffness that leads to a lack of mobility in these voluntary muscles.
Researchers are using Botox injections to help relieve the muscles that are affected by spastic paralysis with, so far, beneficial results. This treatment is approved for patients who haven’t responded well to the presiding treatments.