Radish calf; strange plastic surgery procedure

Incredibly, there’s a name for an overly muscular lower leg, especially on a woman: radish calf. And along with a name, there’s a proposed treatment, albeit a highly controversial (and many would say, ill-advised) one. According to a 2004 study in the journal Dermatologic Surgery, Botox can be used to contour oversized, muscular calves, which according to the authors, “can cause psychological stress in women.”


The 2004 study only looked at six “radish-legged” women, but the test subjects were all said to show a slight reduction in the muscle after the injections without suffering any “functional disabilities.” A query about using Botox to reduce big calf muscles on the consumer review site RealSelf.com, however, produced a dozen or more warnings from doctors about the practice, who termed it “dangerous,” “outlandish” and “a very bad idea.”

“You’d have to inject large amounts [of the toxin] to reduce the size of the muscle and if you do that, you’d be running the risk of not being able to walk properly,” says Dr. Hema Sundaram, a Washington, D.C., dermatologist. “And there’s no way the manufacturers of Botox and Dysport would recommend this. I don’t consider this medically advisable.”