Our Strongest Weapon is Unity: A Call to Action for the Neurotoxin Injury Community
For anyone who has suffered a systemic injury from botulinum toxin, the journey often begins with a profound sense of isolation. We fight to be believed by doctors, friends, and even family. We are told our physical suffering is "just anxiety." Finding a community of others who finally understand is a lifeline in that storm. But what happens when that lifeline becomes frayed? What happens when the one place we should feel safe becomes another source of division and pain?
The Real Enemy
After surviving the initial trauma of medical gaslighting, it's devastating to encounter a new kind of dismissal from within our own community. It's a betrayal that can feel just as sharp. This infighting, the territorial disputes over resources, and the personal conflicts between advocates are a dangerous distraction. They force us to turn our energy inward, fighting each other instead of the real enemy.
Let's be clear: the enemy is not another support group or a fellow advocate. The enemy is a multi-billion dollar industry that has, for decades, successfully downplayed the risks of its product. The enemy is a medical establishment that remains dangerously uninformed, leaving patients to suffer without answers. The enemy is a narrative that dismisses our life-altering neurological injuries as minor, temporary side effects. That is the battle we should all be fighting, together.
Why a United Front is Our Only Path Forward
A divided community is a weak community. When we allow personal conflicts to create fractures, our collective voice is diminished. We give the medical and corporate entities that dismiss us exactly what they want: a small, splintered group of "anecdotes" that are easy to ignore. When we fight over who 'owns' a story that is already a matter of public record, we are silencing the very victims we claim to be helping and doing the industry's work for them.
Imagine, instead, a united front. Imagine a world where every single advocacy blog, every support group, and every public platform, while unique, shares and amplifies each other's work. A world where a newly injured person, desperately searching for answers at 3 a.m., can easily find all the resources available, not just one siloed group. That is a force that cannot be ignored. Our numbers are our strength, but only if we stand together.
A Vision for Collaboration
A collaborative community isn't one where everyone agrees on everything. It's one where everyone agrees on the mission: to support the injured and demand change.
It looks like sharing each other's blog posts and celebrating every new resource that emerges. It looks like different support groups recommending one another, recognizing that each space offers a unique form of support that might be exactly what someone needs. It's a community that understands that a victory for one of us—whether it's a successful media story or a small personal triumph—is a victory for all of us. This is how we build a movement that can successfully demand what we all deserve: accurate informed consent, proper medical recognition of iatrogenic botulism, and accountability. It's about putting the collective well-being of the community above any personal ego or conflict.
Team Botox Injured
This experience has taught me that I cannot be on any team other than "team Botox injured." That is the only side I am on. My personal commitment is to support any and every resource that can help someone who is suffering. I will continue to share links to groups, blogs, and scientific papers, regardless of their origin, if I believe they can help.
I invite everyone in this community to adopt the same mindset. Unity is not just a nice idea; it is a strategic necessity. It is the single most powerful weapon we have in this fight. Let's put down our swords and link arms instead.