Botox not just for aging movie stars

Botox is often associated with aging celebrities and their efforts to appear young, but neurotoxic protein has benefits beyond smoothing out wrinkles.

For more than a decade, Health Sciences North has hosted Botox clinics for children, primarily with cerebral palsy, to help improve their muscle movement.

“Kids with cerebral palsy in particular have trouble moving their muscles because they're stiff with a condition called spasticity,” said Dr. Sean Murray, a pediatrician and medical director of the hospital's Family and Child Program.

The Botox treatment gets rid of that spasticity and allows the children to have more mobility.

Murray said children who would not have been active otherwise are now taking part in sports with their peers thanks to NEO Kids' Botox clinics.

To help support the clinics, which serve around 100 children in northeastern Ontario, the Sudbury Shrine Club donated $16,000 to NEO Kids Wednesday.

Since 2004, the Sudbury Shrine Club and Rameses Shriners Toronto have donated around $400,000 to the clinic.

“The Sudbury Shrine Club and Rameses Shriners are very proud of our long history of support of the Botox clinic and Health Sciences North,” said Saliem Khoury, president of the Sudbury Shrine Club.

NEO Kids hosts around 25 Botox clinics each year, and the funds will help support all associated costs, said Murray.