Botox is one of the most popular beauty treatments around, and is also used to treat a number of other ailments too. However could Botox actually be giving you wrinkles?

Cosmetic practitioners have long noted that by freezing certain muscles, others will often start to be used more as your body starts to compensate. Dr David Becker has now published in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology showing that by using Botox, you may in fact be giving yourself extra wrinkles.

“Paralysis of a set of muscles might lead to recruitment of other muscle groups in an attempt to reproduce the conditioned activity being blocked – resulting in more prominent muscle activity in adjacent regions,” Becker explains. In short, by freezing some muscles, others will compensate and this might mean you end up with a new, different set of lines and wrinkles on your face.

For women who have had Botox injections to their face the most tell-tale new lines are across the bridge of the nose. These lines are now colloquially known as ‘bunny lines’ because if you wrinkle your nose like a bunny, you’ll tend to see this area of your nose wrinkle up. These wrinkles are so well known that many look for them in celebrities to see if they can work out who has had Botox. Celebrities such as Amanda Holden and Dannii Minogue are said to have these bunny lines across the bridge of their nose when they smile, neatly demonstrating the principle. Although it must be stressed that not everyone with bunny lines has had Botox – there are many people who have bunny lines naturally.

Naturally, you can pre-empt the bunny lines Botox problem by having Botox injected across the bridge of the nose to stop the new wrinkles forming in the first place and many Botox practitioners are now recommending this for their patients. Of course the question then becomes where the wrinkles will appear instead of the nose and some Botox aficionados have revealed that they are now finding some wrinkles under their eyes instead.