Stomach Botox (Gastric Botox) is a type of weight-loss procedure. With Botox injection, the muscles involved in the peristaltic movements of the foods become paralyzed. Thus, the stomach will feel fuller and this will result in feeling less hunger, eating less and eventually losing weight.
What is Stomach Botox (Gastric Botox)?
Obesity, which is characterized by having more fat than is considered normal in the body and therefore experiencing weight problems, has become a common problem both in our country and around the world in recent years. Since obesity is an extremely serious health problem, different methods are applied for its treatment.
Stomach Botox (gastric Botox), one of the prominent methods in the fight against obesity, is a treatment procedure with a high success rate. The main factor affecting the success of the stomach Botox procedure is how much the patient complies with the doctor’s recommendations and diet list after the Botox application to the stomach.
How much weight can be lost with stomach Botox treatment can vary depending on many different factors, especially the patient’s current weight. The general expectation is that the patient will lose 15-20% of their weight. The stomach Botox procedure, which maintains its effect for an average of 4-6 months, allows the patient to feel full much faster and last much longer when they eat.
It is important for patients to gain healthy eating habits during the period that the stomach Botox effect is maintained. Receiving dietician support after stomach Botox, which is not a surgical procedure, is one of the elements that ensure the success of the treatment.
Stomach Botox treatment is performed by injecting Botulinum toxin into the muscles in the stomach wall. In this way, the stomach muscles work slower and the patient feels full for longer. Stomach Botox is a procedure that can be preferred in patients who have an overweight problem but are not suitable for obesity surgery.
The contractions of the stomach muscles of patients who have undergone gastric Botox are slowed down by the effect of Botulinum toxin. Accordingly, the process of food remaining in the stomach is prolonged and thus the emptying process of the stomach is delayed. Therefore, the feeling of fullness increases and appetite decreases. As a result of all these effects, weight loss occurs.
Anatomically, the stomach has five parts: Cardia, Fundus, Corpus, Antrum and Pylorus. The fundus region, which comes after cardia, which is the beginning of the stomach, is also the region where the ghrelin hormone, also known as the hunger hormone, is secreted the most. As part of the stomach Botox procedure, Botox is also injected into the fundus region and the patients’ appetite is reduced.
Stomach Botox is not a harmful procedure if it is performed on the right patient, by expert and experienced doctors, using the right techniques and in appropriate doses. In order for stomach Botox not to cause any risks and for the patient to get optimum benefit after the application, stomach Botox should be planned specifically for the patient and applied meticulously.
Botulinum toxin used for Botox has the characteristic of being a substance that can damage many organs and systems of the patient if used excessively. Therefore, the injection points and the dose to be injected should be determined carefully. If the injected Botox dose is not adjusted correctly and a much larger amount of Botox is injected than necessary, undesirable situations such as heart rhythm disorder, heart attack, sudden death, stomach necrosis and various neurological side effects may be encountered. Therefore, stomach Botox should definitely be applied by expert and experienced doctors on the procedure.
Who is Suitable for Stomach Botox?
Gastric Botox can be applied to people who complain about their excess weight and want to lose weight, but are not suitable for bariatric surgery. Basically, gastric Botox can be applied to every patient who wants to lose weight. However, it is important to be meticulous about patient selection.
Gastric Botox may not be the method that will provide optimum benefit for patients with a body mass index of 40 and above, who are likely to benefit from bariatric surgery methods. In addition, if the patient has ulcers and gastritis, these problems should be treated before gastric Botox.
How is Stomach Botox Performed?
Before the stomach Botox procedure, the patient is examined in detail. After the evaluation, it is decided whether the patient is suitable for stomach Botox. If the patient is found suitable for stomach Botox treatment, the patient is put to sleep with sedation anaesthesia technique and then the stomach is examined with the endoscopic method. It is determined whether there are problems such as gastric ulcer, gastritis, and duodenal ulcer. If no problem is detected, stomach Botox treatment is performed.
The patient is placed in a suitable lying position and the stomach is reached with the gastroscopy device advanced through the mouth. Thanks to the flexible gastroscopy device, Botox injection is made to 8-10 points in the fundus region of the stomach with the injector mounted on this device. The procedure is completed in an average of 20 minutes and the patient is woken up.
Thanks to the Botulinum toxin injected with the gastric Botox procedure, the nerves and muscles that affect appetite and hunger in the stomach are paralyzed and rendered ineffective for an average of 4-6 months. Since the patient’s appetite decreases and the stomach muscles lose their ability to contract, the stomach empties in a longer time. The longer the food stays in the stomach, the longer the feeling of fullness lasts. Patients begin to lose weight as they become full more quickly with less food.
Carbohydrate foods normally pass from the stomach to the duodenum in 2-4 hours. After gastric Botox injection, the stomach emptying time can be extended up to 12 hours. Since Botox is also injected into the parts of the stomach that provide hunger hormones, the patient’s satiety period is extended and appetite decreases. Patients can usually reach their ideal weight by losing 40% of their excess weight within an average of 6-8 months after gastric Botox treatment.
What are the Side Effects of Stomach Botox?
Many people who have an overweight problem may not be able to achieve the success they want despite regular diet and exercise. If the overweight problem reaches the level of obesity, gastric Botox may be on the agenda. Gastric Botox is a procedure that provides effective results when applied to the patient with the right techniques. However, the patient should be informed about the side effects of gastric Botox treatment before the application.
Gastric Botox is an endoscopic procedure and does not require a surgical procedure. If gastric Botox is applied correctly by specialist and experienced doctors, it is rare to encounter serious risks.
Botox intolerance, which manifests itself with nausea and vomiting, may occur after gastric Botox treatment. This may cause pain in the stomach area. If the patient’s quality of life is negatively affected despite drug treatment, the possibility of incorrect application of gastric Botox may come to mind.
Rarely, ulcers and bleeding may occur in the stomach. Medication may be required to suppress the production of hydrochloric acid in the stomach.
If Botox injection is performed in high doses with unreliable and low-quality materials, the body may have difficulty tolerating Botulinum toxin and functional intestinal obstruction (ileus) may occur. In the event of intestinal obstruction, emergency surgery may be required.
Risks of gastric Botox include the patient not losing any weight or not losing enough weight. This is usually due to the patient not limiting their calorie consumption.
What Should Be Taken into Consideration After Stomach Botox?
After gastric Botox treatment, patients can return to their daily lives quickly and comfortably. However, there are some points to consider for gastric Botox treatment to be successful. Patients who undergo gastric Botox are expected to lose 10-15% of their total weight within 3-6 months following the treatment. This period and the amount of weight to be lost may vary depending on the patient’s age, metabolic age, lifestyle and eating habits.
After gastric Botox treatment, patients should be careful about their eating habits. They should especially stay away from fast food and limit their consumption of excessive carbohydrate and fatty foods. They should follow a healthy diet program as much as possible and be careful not to skip their meals.
It is not recommended to consume acidic beverages after gastric Botox as it can damage the stomach. It should not be forgotten that all foods and beverages that cause the patient to gain weight before gastric Botox can have the same effect after gastric Botox.
Patients can continue their daily lives where they left off 3-4 hours after gastric Botox. There is usually no need to stay in the hospital. Although the success rate is over 90%, weight loss in patients who have gastric Botox may vary from patient to patient. Usually, about 20 kg is lost in the first months and then it becomes 15 kg per month. It can be 10-15 kg in the following months. Of course, gastric Botox alone is not enough for this. It is important to follow the diet regularly and do regular exercise after the procedure.
Liquid diet is applied for the first 3 days after gastric Botox. Then, a protein-based diet should be adopted for main and snack meals. Proteins can increase the effect of gastric Botox during the weight loss process due to both the slowing down of gastric transit due to their long digestion and their additional fat-burning properties.
In the first 4 months, the consumption of liquids such as water, herbal tea, unsweetened tea and soup should be maximized. Sugary and acidic foods, and fast-food diet should be avoided. During this period, patients should focus on healthy eating and changing their eating habits. Following a correct diet not only increases the effect of the stomach Botox procedure, but also contributes to the patient’s healthy weight loss process.
Since alcohol and cigarettes directly affect the stomach muscles, they should be stopped 2 weeks before the application and should not be used afterwards.
What Are the Advantages of Stomach Botox?
Stomach Botox is a non-surgical treatment and therefore provides a comfortable process. In addition to being a quick and simple procedure that does not require hospitalization, the patient does not feel any pain or ache during the procedure. In addition, since it is not a surgical procedure, a long recovery period is not required, and patients can continue their daily lives without interruption.
There is no scarring on the body after the stomach Botox procedure. In addition to being a procedure with minimal side effects and complications, it can be repeated if necessary.
However, in order for stomach Botox treatment to provide permanent results, the patient must follow a healthy diet program and turn it into a lifestyle habit. Since the effect of stomach Botox usually lasts for 4-6 months and disappears at the end of this period, if the diet is not changed, the patient may experience unwanted situations such as regaining weight. In addition, since the results to be obtained depend on the patient’s compliance with the diet, lifestyle habits, excess weight, metabolic rate and many other factors, it is not possible to guarantee a certain weight loss with stomach Botox treatment. In order to obtain optimum benefit from stomach Botox, it is very important that the procedure be performed by a specialist and experienced doctor, as well as cooperation between the doctor and the patient.
Can Gastric Botox Be Repeated?
With gastric Botox treatment, patients can reach their ideal weight within an average of 6-8 months. In people who have lost some weight during this period but cannot reach their ideal weight, repeating gastric Botox may be considered to ensure the continuity of weight loss. However, the decision on whether or not gastric Botox can be repeated is made on a patient-specific basis after evaluations. However, the decision on whether or not gastric Botox can be repeated is made on a patient-specific basis after evaluations.
Stomach Botox Prices
Stomach Botox prices may vary depending on factors such as the person’s age, body mass index (BMI), health history, the quality and unit amount of Botulinum toxin to be used in the treatment, the experience of the doctor who will perform the application, and the pricing policy of the centre where the application will be performed.
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