Brief History of Botox
The Botox story begins in the 1970s when researchers, testing the toxin on monkeys, noticed the botulinum toxin had an unintended effect. After a series of injections, it significantly reduced the lines and wrinkles in the glabella or the area in the face between the eyes and above the nose. “Interesting,” they thought, but researchers ignored this effect until around 1987.
Drs. Alastair and Jean Carruthers operated in a Vancouver clinic where they performed skin cancer surgery, utilized cosmetic procedures, and treated blepharospasm (eye spasms). At the time, the toxin was not approved by the FDA, but botulinum toxin had become a popular treatment for eye spasm conditions.
A blepharospasm patient of Dr. Jean Carruthers first gave the doctors the idea of using botulism as a facial wrinkle treatment. In one session, when the toxin was injected into the patient, the patient requested that Dr. Carruthers inject botulinum into her forehead.
When asked why the patient said when the medicine was injected into her forehead, wrinkles disappeared. Drs. Caruthers discussed the amazing observation and began using botulinum toxin to treat frown lines in the forehead, or “glabellar lines.” At the time, fillers were used for wrinkle treatment, but fillers were painful, and their effects were short-lived.
The two doctors tested the injections on their receptionist, and she loved what it did for her. The doctors took their findings to the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery conference in 1991, and Drs. Carruthers presented their injection treatment.
Unfortunately, their colleagues did not agree with their findings. Instead, their colleagues believed botulinum needed more clinical trials to prove its safety and lasting success. Nevertheless, Drs. Caruthers continued sharing their results over the next few years, and their confidence in the treatment began to grow.
In 1993, doctors around the globe started offering Botulinum toxin as an off-label treatment for glabellar lines. This treatment produced a snowball effect beginning in 1993. First, doctors worldwide started offering Botulinum toxin, now known popularly as “Botox,” as an off-label treatment for wrinkles around the eyes and glabellar lines. As an off-label treatment, it required no FDA approval for practice.
In 1988, the drug manufacturer, Allergan, bought the rights to the Botulinum toxin. They quickly changed to name to Botox, a recognizable name for aesthetic use. However, four FDA-approved types of toxins are now readily available on the market. Some of these, like Xeomin, made by Merz, is a pure chemical makeup products.
In the 1990s, Botox began making a name for itself in the cosmetic treatment world, but it took until 2002 for the FDA to officially approve Botox for glabellar lines. Now, after 30 years, it is one of the world’s most common cosmetic procedures.
What is Botox?
Botox treatments have been on the aesthetic forefront since the US FDA legalized them in 2002, and the use of Botox has gone through more studies than ibuprofen. Today, Botox is the gold standard and the face of the non-surgical cosmetic treatment industry. About 6 million people undergo Botox treatments annually, and Botox reached sales of nearly $1 billion in the last financial quarter alone.
Botox is a product or a neurotoxin injectable used to reduce signs of aging by preventing and halting targeted muscles from contracting and forming lines, wrinkles, and folds. It is also known as Onobotulinum toxin A, derived from the neurotoxin Clostridium botulinum. Onobotulinum toxin A is the deadliest toxin in the world, but a particular manufactured type of botulinum toxin has several medical and scientific applications.
Botox is the most requested neurotoxin to decrease wrinkles, frown lines, crow’s feet, and forehead lines. A neurotoxin is categorized as a drug created by botulinum. Alarming as it sounds, Botox provides many cosmetic and medical benefits when used in small doses. Botox, as a cosmetic injectable, stops wrinkles and lines, but Botox can be medically injected for excessive sweating, used to treat neck spasms, an overactive bladder, and a lazy eye. Chronic migraines are also treated with Botox.
Cosmetic Use
Your facial muscles help you show expressions like frowning and smiling, but the muscles used to smile or frown over time cause your skin to wrinkle and develop fine lines. Botox is a prescription injection available at medspas and dermatologists’ clinics that temporarily block the muscle contractions causing these imperfections.
After a Botox injection, you will have natural facial expressions, and there is no “frozen” look. Botox takes about ten ¬minutes to inject and is a procedure that has little downtime. Results may be noticeable within 24 to 48 hours and tend to last up to four months, but Botox gradually wears off as the body produces new neurotransmitters.
Botox may cause side effects of redness and swelling at the injection site, but symptoms disappear quickly. Botox procedures are non-invasive and very safe when performed by a board-certified injector, and side effects occur in very few patients. Let your injector know if you have allergies to Botox Cosmetic ingredients.
How is Botox Used?
Forehead Lines
Botox erases wrinkles and lines between your eyes and on your forehead for a vibrant and youthful look.
Scowl Lines
Gathering the eyebrows together causes scowl lines. These are also the lines between the eyebrows and are cosmetically called “11s.”
Bunny Lines
When you scrunch up your nose, lines appear. Decrease these lines with a Botox treatment.
Brow Lift
Are you asked if you are sad or mad, or tired? Botox will lift your eyebrows and give you a well-rested look.
Crow’s Feet
Lines at the outer corners of your eyes can be cute, but they also age you. Botox treatments will refresh your eye areas.
Lip Lines/Lip flip
Is there too much gum line showing when you smile? Use Botox to flip your lip and soften the lines around the mouth.
Dimpled Chin
A dimpled or orange peel look to your chin can be erased with Botox injections.
Masseter (TMJ)/Face Slimming
Your mother tells you to stop grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw because it will cause wrinkles and pain. Botox relaxes your masseter muscle and helps decrease the pain and wrinkles. Botox injections in the masseter muscle will also give you a slimmer-looking face.
Other
Are there additional lines or wrinkles to decrease? Consult your aesthetician who can give you more details about the miracle of Botox.
Botox treatments are available from our high-end aesthetics clinics, Ageless Aesthetics, in Moscow, ID, and Pullman, WA. Please make an appointment through our website at https://agelessatheticsrn.com or gives us a call at 208-882-7706.
