So I went for my third Botox treatment yesterday. The Doctor, a likeable if scatterbrained Greek woman has a packed waiting room: so she’s not wasting any time.
She is reading my notes as she is preparing the syringe.

What use have I for Botox ? I hear you cry. What with my youthful face; wrinkle-free skin smooth as the proverbial baby’s backside. Well, none actually. Not on my face anyway. It is for my legs and feet. The Dystonia I have as a result of the Parkinson’s causes my right big toe to curl up and back, and my left foot to turn inwards which left unchecked means I walk on the ’knife edge’ of the foot. Understandably this causes problems with my gait and is painful to boot. My physio had the bright idea of trying Botox, which basically is a muscle relaxant.

So, after a year on the waiting list I had my first treatment in the Botox Clinic in March. First on the wayward toe; and it has been good as gold, only starting to wear off at the end of July. The left which was done about a month later has been less successful. (They try one limb at a time for obvious reasons) 

The Doctor is just about to do ‘same again’ when I point out that the problems persist in the left foot. This prompts a bit of thinking, then looking for all the world like a professional darts player at the Winter Gardens Blackpool, launches the little syringe into a series of sites into my lower legs, left and right.

Before …

‘Come see me in four months’she says and moves onto the next patient.

Did you know?

Botulinum toxin is the most powerful neurotoxin known to man. 1 gramme of botulinum toxin would be enough to kill 14,000 people (if ingested), 1.25 million people if inhaled, or 8.3 million people if injected

Botox contains some Botulinum Toxin, but obviously in minute quantites, similar to those needed to make Lemon and Barley Water drinkable.

… After

© Andy Daly 2014