For the last 20 years of my life, my neck muscle (platysma muscle) has been overactive due to my facial paralysis. My neck helps support my balance, my speech, blinking and other things I’ve been anaware of until now. About 6 weeks ago, my new doctor suggested that I inject botox into this muscle to significantly weaken it and subsequently reduce my constant neck pain.
I agreed to give it a shot (literally!) But it wasn’t an easy decision. It’s scary to think I’m choosing to inject a ‘toxin’ into my body that actually causes paralysis. However, as I have such an over-active left facial muscles, it’s a massive relief when the right muscles are given a chance.
Getting the injection was incredibly painful. Due to the muscle being overactive for 20 years, it felt like it had almost calcified to almost bone density. Little did I know that the pain of the injection was the least of my troubles.
In paralysing that muscle, my mobility to perform everyday tasks was incredibly hindered. I found talking really difficult and my balance when walking was completely thrown off. I didn’t realised until I wasn’t using this muscle how heavily I had relied on it for so many things over these years. Without it, I was in a much worse place.
A month on and I have had a lot of physiotherapy and have now adapted to this reality. I’m due to get the botox again in another month but I am currently debating it it’s worth proceeding with it, now that my body has adapted and relies on this incredibly strong neck muscle. it helps me every day and I don’t know if weakening it is the best treatment for me.
This procedure definitely reduced the constant left-sided neck pain that I endure. It also has aesthetic benefits as it does make my neck appear more symmetrical; I do look “more normal”. However, I am very aware of the other negative outcomes of having this treatment – including more fatigue and worse balance. I’ve looked abnormal now for a long time, so this consideration isn’t a top priority for me.
Although it it is scary to go ahead and paralyse something that actually is working, there’s something quite empowering about ‘choosing’ this. However, in choosing to proceed or not with this procedure it has been really helpful to have support to reflect on the pros and cons to help guide that decision-making process.
When prescribing or recommending a treatment I think it’s really helpful to consider ALL of the outcomes for each individual. Some definitely can’t be predicted and we need to ensure that we tap into the lived experience for each individual. I feel that my doctor looked at the treatment more as a pain relief and saw the cosmetic benefits, but didn’t consider the impact this treatment would have on my balance and other everyday activities.
When offering treatment advice, are you considering the entire benefit or hinderance it will have on the person? Perhaps the person is deliberating about seeking that intervention again? Have you worked with them to consider and identify both the pros and cons of a treatment? Are you capturing the lived experience of having lived with the aftermath of that procedure?