Ironing Out the Wrinkles

It’s late, and I’m sitting here at squinting at my computer screen most likely because I’ve positioned it too far away from my eyes. At least, that’s what I keep telling myself to make myself feel better.

I believe at some point in my life I will need glasses. I’ve been lucky so far, being nearly 34 and having avoided them thus far, but if family history dictates the need, then I’ll probably need a pair sometime in my early 40s (or, with denial, late 40s). I wonder if I’ll opt for LASIK eye surgery, the popular surgery used to correct vision problems. As I write this, I’m checking out the FDA web site describing the procedure and the risks associated with it, and wonder how the procedure and studies will change by the time I need to consider it.

But that’s not what I’m focused on tonight. Long before I lose my vision, I’ll squint to read. Squinting will contribute to the wrinkles that I can already see forming around my eyes. Wrinkles that mean I’m getting old.

I know that my concern about staying young only plays into the increasing obsession we have in America with keeping people guessing as to how old we are. We want to look good for our age, as opposed to looking aged. And we are so desperate to retain our youthful looks that we’ll put our own bodies at risk with extreme makeovers, which can include broken bones radical surgical procedures.

Botox, an injectable serum made from the botulism toxin and produced by Allergan, Inc., is somewhat less radical than surgery but shown to be effective and popular for treating wrinkles. While I admit I’ve been curious about this drug and how it works, I read today that the FDA announced this week that they’re reviewing the safety of Botox.

While the base toxic ingredient is normally lethal to humans, drug maker Allergan has concocted a dose that can be used to target a specific muscle or group of muscles and render it essentially immobile by its application. The drug appears to be relatively benign in cases where it’s used for its intended cosmetic uses. Problems seem to arise, however, when doctors prescribe it for off-label uses, that is, medical applications of the drug not yet approved by the FDA. Most commonly, Botox is applied in these cases as treatment for limb spasms in cases of cerebral palsy and for treating cervical dystonia, or rigid neck muscles. These also, however, were the cases that had reported adverse events, the most serious of which occurred in children.(1)

The article goes on to indicate that problems likely occurred because of over use and overdosing of the medication, and the likelihood that any adverse reaction would occur in a cosmetic application are slim. Still, the article warns that people should pay attention to symptoms that could be related to botulism, such as weakness or trouble swallowing or breathing.

I would love to be forever young, and take advantage of my youth all over again. As I look at myself in the mirror every day, I see changes in my body that indicate I’m no longer the 20-year-old that looked back. The hair is thinning, the wrinkles are starting to form, although I have to squint now to actually see them. What might I be willing to do in order to recapture some of that youth that is slowly melting away before my very eyes?

Then again, I look at the things that make me feel young without the use of any drugs; my son and my wife. The days that are most special, the days that I can cling to unlike my thinning hair, are days when he points to my MP3 player, asks for music, and insists that my wife and I dance with him as he makes up his own dance moves reminiscent of the southern Italian Tarantella.

And I don’t need to squint to see it.

(1) See “FDA reviewing safety of Botox and rival product,” Lisa Richwine, Reuters, Feb 8, 2008.