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Safe alternative to Botox
🕑 Added 2025-02-23 16:37:54 +0000 UTCLet’s get something straight. Botox is not safe. The’ rare spread’ of botulinum toxin, known as ‘toxin diffusion’ is not nearly as rare as it’s often made out to be, and can occur when the toxin in botox migrates beyond the intended injection site, leading to systemic deleterious effects.
This phenomenon, while supposedly uncommon, can result in serious complications. Symptoms can include muscle weakness in adjacent areas, difficulty swallowing (dysphagia), breathing difficulties, vision problems such as double vision or drooping eyelids, anxiety, serious neurological complications and even death
A safer alternative?
Pentapeptide-18 (commonly referred to leuphasyl in the skin care world) is gaining quite a bit of attention as a non-invasive alternative to Botox for wrinkle reduction. PP18 is a synthetic peptide, which is composed of five amino acids, and mimics the effects of botulinum toxin without the associated risks of injections. Its mechanism of action primarily involves modulating the localized release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter needed for muscle contraction, thereby reducing the frequency of muscle contractions that lead to the formation of expression lines.
Now, I want to be completely upfront with you — I’m not a particularly huge fan of using anything that reduces the frequency of muscle contractions. Period. Unlike Botox, I don’t think this will have any long-term systemic negative health effects from a toxological POV. However, this isn’t the only downside to Botox.
Botox works effectively by reducing muscle contractions, and it’s entirely within the realm of possibility to assume there might be biomechanical repercussions associated with this. For instance, limiting muscle activity can alter how muscles and joints function together, potentially leading to imbalances or compensatory movement patterns. It’s possible this could lead to issues with breathing, sensory-motor, or vision abnormalities—consider all the sensory and neurological real estate in the face. It’s hard to say for certain.
If certain muscles are weakened or become less active over time, surrounding muscles may become overactive or strained, which could lead to issues. It’s also possible that long-term use of such treatments might influence posture and overall muscle tone, especially in the neck.
Place your hands on the back of your neck, right at the base of your skull. Keep your head completely still, but move your eyes side to side. Can you feel how this directly impacts the tone and contractility of the muscles in your neck? What impact could paralyzing the muscles in the face have on the neck due to the eyes? Again, don’t really know.
I also realize that this isn’t going to stop people from using Botox-like compounds for cosmetic reasons. And I DO think PP18 is a much safer version for those that are worried about the obvious negative effects that can result from injecting a known neuro toxin… (Botox). If this prevents people from using Botox, I think that’s a solid trade off.
One of the advantages to PP is that the effects are quickly reversible after discounting AND they don’t seem to be quite as strong as Botox. I think being able to achieve moderate muscle inhibition (vs a complete block) poses some safety advantages as well.
Conversely, it’s also possible this COULD in fact provide some therapeutic advantages, particularly for individuals with tension related headaches and other pathologies with a muskoskeletal etiology involving excessive muscular tone (mytonic dystrophy for example). As always, this likely comes back to dose and use frequency.
With those necessary caveats added, let’s dive deeper into PP18 itself.
Mechanisms of action
As mentioned, PP-18 operates by inhibiting the release of acetylcholine at neuromuscular junctions. This is achieved through its action on enkephalin receptors, which are similar to the natural peptides in the body that inhibit neuronal activity. When Pentapeptide-18 binds to these receptors locally, it triggers a cascade of intracellular events that ultimately reduce the excitability of nerve cells. This process leads to a decrease in the release of acetylcholine, resulting in more relaxed facial muscles and diminished wrinkle formation around the eyes and forehead.
PP18 also modulates calcium channels in neurons. By preventing calcium ions from entering the nerve cells, it inhibits the vesicle fusion necessary for acetylcholine release. This mechanism is akin to that of botox, which cleaves proteins essential for neurotransmitter release, but without the toxicity associated with botulinum. The modulation of calcium channels effectively reduces muscle contractions, minimizing the dynamic wrinkles that occur from repetitive facial movements.
Pentapeptide-18 is often combined with other peptides for wrinkles , such as Argireline and GHK-cu. While Pentapeptide-18 alone has been shown to reduce wrinkles by approximately 11%, its combination with argireline can lead to reductions of 25-50% in wrinkle appearance.
Unlike Botox, which requires injections by a medical professional, PP-18 can be applied topically. It’s more accessible and less intimidating for users with cosmic related goals.
Dosage
PP18 is typically used in concentrations ranging from 2% to 5% in topical formulations. The recommended application involves applying it once or twice daily
The effects are not permanent, which is actually great. It does require continuous use to maintain results. Clinical studies have shown that users begin to notice a reduction in wrinkle depth after about 28 days of consistent application. In studies, a 5% concentration of PP18 demonstrated an average reduction in wrinkles by approximately 11% after this period. This improves up to 40-50% with more consistent use
In summary, for effective results with a concentration of 2% to 5% applied twice daily is recommended, with noticeable effects typically observed after about 28 days of consistent use.
The recommended brand isPeptide Science. While this is an expensive product, diluting it with water (in order to achieve that 5% concentration mention) should last you a while.
Mixture preparation
to achieve a 5% concentration from a 200 mg vial of PP18, you will need to dilute it to a total volume of 4 ml This will require you adding about 4 ml of water into a seperate container with the entire 200mg of the peptide. You will then use a 1ml dropper bottle to apply this mixture to desire areas of the face
You can also combine this with peptides like GHK-cu and thymalin for improved wrinkle reduction. The product I recommend for this is called ‘Duo’ from infiniwell. Its marketed as a hair regrowth serum but works equally well for skin. The combination of zinc + thymalin is even more effective than copper and GHK alone. It also contains a small amount of DMSO to help with dermal absorption of the aforementioned peptides
You can use the code GRANTFOWLER15 for 10% off this one. I don’t have a code and am not affiliated with peptide science though.
https://infiniwell.com/?rfsn=5349339.0c2b41
