Biotin, also known as Vitamin B7, B8 or Vitamin H, is a nutrient absorbed from diet and supports multiple body systems. Biotin has a multitude of uses and is beneficial for clients who are looking for both cosmetic and health benefits with many clients opting for Biotin to enhance their fitness levels.

Hair, Skin and Nails

• Enhances skin hydration: Biotin aids in the production of fatty acids that nourish the skin and help maintain its moisture barrier. This can prevent dryness and flakiness hence leading to smoother skin.

• Improves skin appearance: By supporting the metabolism of fats, it helps in maintaining a healthy skin tone and texture. This can make your skin look more radiant and youthful.

• Promotes hair growth: Biotin stimulates keratin production in hair, which can increase follicle growth rate. As Keratin forms the structure of hair, this can lead to thicker and healthier strands.

• Strengthens hair strands: Regular biotin supplementation can reduce hair breakage and split ends, resulting in stronger, more resilient hair. This is particularly beneficial for those experiencing hair thinning or loss.

• Boosts other hair loss treatments: There is some evidence that adding Biotin to Minoxidil treatments can increase hair regrowth.

• Reduces nail brittleness: Biotin supplementation has been shown to increase nail thickness and reduce brittleness, making nails less prone to breaking and splitting.

• Promotes nail growth: Biotin can strengthen brittle nails which enables them to grow longer.

Heath and Fitness

• Improves energy production: Biotin helps the body break down food into glucose, amino acids, and fatty acids, which are used to create energy. By improving your body’s energy production, biotin can help you push through intense training sessions, allowing you to achieve your fitness goals faster.

• Promotes protein synthesis: Biotin plays a vital role in protein synthesis, which is essential for muscle growth and repair. Supplementing with biotin can enhance muscle strength and endurance, allowing you to lift heavier weights and push yourself harder during workouts.

• Boosts cellular metabolism: Biotin helps the body metabolise carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. By enhancing your body’s metabolic processes, biotin can increase your metabolism, allowing you to burn more calories during workouts and throughout the day.

• Better cardiovascular health: Biotin can improve cardiovascular health by reducing inflammation and improving blood flow. Better cardiovascular health means your body can transport oxygen and nutrients to your muscles more efficiently, allowing you to train harder and longer.

• Improved insulin sensitivity: Insulin sensitivity is crucial for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels, which is essential for optimal performance during workouts. Biotin can improve insulin sensitivity, making it easier for your body to regulate blood sugar levels and maintain energy levels during exercise.

• Reduced inflammation: Inflammation can hinder your body’s ability to recover after workouts, leading to muscle soreness, fatigue, and other problems. Regular biotin supplementation can reduce inflammation.

• Better digestive health: Biotin is essential for maintaining healthy gut bacteria, which is crucial for optimal digestion and nutrient absorption. By supplementing with biotin, you can improve digestive health, allowing your body to extract more nutrients from the food you eat, improving your overall fitness levels.

Vitamin B12 is an essential micronutrient absorbed from diet and is crucial for many body functions. It supports healthy iron function and is essential for energy-yielding metabolism. Vitamin B12 is essential for overall health and wellbeing and is beneficial for clients who are looking to reduce fatigue and improve their energy levels.

• Supports brain and nerve function: Vitamin B12 helps keep your brain and nervous system healthy. 

• Improves energy: Vitamin B12 helps your body metabolise food into energy. 

• Prevents anaemia: Vitamin B12 helps prevent megaloblastic anaemia, a blood condition that causes weakness and fatigue. 

• Regulates DNA: Vitamin B12 helps create and regulate DNA, the genetic material in all of your cells. 

• Better cognitive function: Vitamin B12 helps with cognitive functioning, or your ability to think. 

• Improves mood: Vitamin B12 helps serotonin production in the brain.

Vitamin D is absorbed from the sun as well as diet and is essential for many body functions. It helps to increase calcium and phosphate levels in the body to support healthy teeth, bones and muscles. Vitamin D is another essential vitamin for overall heath and wellbeing and is beneficial for clients who are at greater risk of deficiancy.

• Promotes strong bones: Vitamin D aids in calcium absorption, preventing brittle bones and lowering the risk of osteoporosis.

• Supports heart health: Supports healthy blood vessels, potentially lowering blood pressure, and aids in cholesterol regulation.

• Improved immune system: May assist in warding off germs, reducing the risk of colds, flu, and alleviating symptoms of autoimmune diseases.

• Elevates mood: Linked to alleviating symptoms of depression, Vitamin D plays a role in maintaining mental wellbeing.

• Supports cognitive Health: Crucial for brain function, Vitamin D is essential for both development and maintenance of cognitive function.

• Aids diabetes and weight loss support: Low levels of Vitamin D have been associated with obesity and diabetes; supplementation may aid in symptom management and weight loss efforts.

Biotin is absorbed from diet and cannot be stored in the body. Those who have a medical condition making it difficult to absorb nutrients are at risk of deficiency:

Digestive disorders 

• Celiac disease

• Crohn's disease

• Ulcerative colitis

Pancreatic issues

• Cystic fibrosis

• Chronic pancreatitis

Genetic disorders

• Hereditary folate malabsorption:

• Shwachman-Diamond syndrome

Other causes 

• Damage from radiation treatments

• Overgrowth of bacteria in the small bowel

• Parasite or tapeworm infection

• Surgery that removes all or part of the small intestine

• Gastric bypass surgery 

B12 is an essential micronutrient absorbed from diet and cannot be produced by the body. Deficiency is common and largely unrecognised especially for clients with the key factors below:

Diet

• Following a strict vegan diet without B12 supplementation 

• Limited intake of animal products (meat, fish, dairy) 

Age

• Being older than 50 years old due to decreased stomach acid production affecting absorption 

Medical conditions

• Gastrointestinal disorders like Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or inflammatory bowel disease 

• Gastric bypass surgery 

• Pernicious anaemia (autoimmune condition affecting B12 absorption)

Medication

• H2 blockers taken for heartburn 

• Metformin taken for diabetes type 2

• Colchine taken for gout

• Methyldopa taken for hypertension

• Neomycin used for dermatitis

• Aminosalicylic acid taken for Chron's disease

Vitamin D is absorbed from the sun and diet. Vitamin D naturally decreases with age and is unable to be metabolised by the body. Deficiency can be from a lack of sun exposure and reduced intake in the diet. Those who routinely use SPF and those with darker skin tones will produce less vitamin D in the body.

Physical factors

• Being housebound

• Living in a care home

• Working frequent nightshifts

• Covering up most of the skin or using SPF when outside

Race

• Being of African, African-Caribbean, or South Asian descent

Age

• Being older than 65 years old as the skins ability to make vitamin D decreases

Medical conditions

• Gastrointestinal disorders like Crohn's disease, celiac disease, or inflammatory bowel disease 

• Gastric bypass surgery 

• Pernicious anaemia (autoimmune condition affecting B12 absorption)

Medications

• Laxatives

• Steroids

• Cholesterol-lowering drugs

• Seizure-preventing drugs

Having a vitamin injection is a very similar process to having a flu jab or travel vaccine. The treatment is very quick and requires little to no downtime. Any discomfort varies from client to client and can differ between each booster. The injection site will most likely be in the deltoid muscle (upper arm) but can sometimes be in the gluteus muscle (bottom) dependent on the type of booster and our clients' preference.

A loading dose is not always required but is recommended when our clients are experiencing symptoms of deficiency and/or have confirmed low levels of B12 from blood test results. A loading dose ensures the vitamin is at the desired level in the blood and a monthly maintenance dose is then recommended to keep the vitamin at a normal, healthy level, avoiding the return of deficiency symptoms.

Surprisingly, 27% of the population have insufficient or deficient levels of vitamin D and 74% of the population have levels below the optimum level for wellbeing. This is likely because we only get enough of the right kind of sunlight for our bodies to make vitamin D between April and September, mostly between 11am and 3pm. From October to March, we need to source vitamin D from food and since vitamin D is found only in a small number of foods, it is often difficult to get enough from diet alone. This is where vitamin D injections can ensure levels remain healthy for optimal health and wellbeing.

At BTX Advanced Aesthetics we only use prescription medications that are MHRA approved and licensed in the UK for cosmetic purposes. There is very little to no risk of toxicity as the vitamins used are safely dosed and water-soluble meaning any excess levels are flushed out of the body via urine.

Although low quality supplements can be a cheaper option, vitamin injections ultimately offer much more value for money. This is due to their higher absorption rate of 60-80% compared to supplements offering only 10%. Injections are absorbed more efficiently by the body as they are administered directly into the muscle where they pass into the bloodstream whereas supplements firstly have to pass through the entire digestive system before reaching the small intestine where they are then absorbed into the bloodstream. Vitamin injections are also a more convenient option for our clients as they only have to be administered once every 1-3 months compared to supplements needing to be taken daily, and often multiple times a day.