Are there restrictions or precautions for using botulinum toxin?
Author: SCIRE Community Team | Reviewer: Patricia Mills | Published: 10 November 2017 | Updated: ~
Botulinum toxin is not suitable for everyone for medical reasons. It is also important to know that botulinum toxin treatments can be expensive depending on how your medications are funded. Consult your doctor for detailed information about whether this treatment is safe and appropriate for you.
Botulinum toxin should not be used in the following situations:
- By people with other neuromuscular disorders, such as myasthenia gravis
- By people who have an allergy to any of the injection ingredients
- By pregnant or nursing women
- In areas of infection
Botulinum toxin should be used with caution in the following situations:
- By people taking anticoagulants (blood thinners)
Additional precautions when botulinum toxin is used in the bladder:
- By people who have a current or multiple recent bladder or kidney infections (urinary tract infections)
- By people who are not willing or able to do clean intermittent catheterization or have a Foley catheter inserted. This is because there is a potential short term side effect of too much bladder muscle relaxation leading to an inability to fully empty the bladder (urinary retention) without a catheter.
