Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Botox

The uses of botox seem to be increasing all the time despite all the hype over its use; one has to wonder just what it is that this substance is and how it works. To understand exactly what it is and does, we first have to look at just how this amazing miracle of modern science came to be. Botulinum toxin was first researched back in the 1960's; it was tested for use as a treatment for disorders of the mind.

Then a few decades later in 1989, the Federal Drug Administration in America finally approved its use to treat disorders associated with vision; conditions that caused uncontrollable blinking and crossed eyes were the first people to benefit. More research was carried out into other medical uses and in 2000 it was allowed to be used on patients that had a cervical dystonia condition; this helps people with contractions in the upper back and shoulder and neck area, plus other eye disorders. The strange discovery they made quite by accident was that botox helps to reduce the visible lines between the eyebrows; this discovery won over the FDA who agreed that it could be used in cosmetic procedures from 2002.

Botox has a paralyzing affect when it is injected into areas of the forehead which control the muscles that cause frowning; given sufficient treatments, frown lines that the person has lived with for many years will gradually fade. With continued use, the frown lines in most instances will completely vanish but the same effect can be found in lines at the sides of the eyes, mouth and other forehead lines. To allay any fears about injection toxin into our bodies these injections only contain a diluted and purified version of the poison; if it were not for the purification process this treatment could make us very sick.

Of course we all like to laugh and obviously use our faces for other gestures but the muscles controlling this are the cause of the line we see and obviously, these injections can stop this. This treatment is able to take back, for a temporary period, all those years of lines, creases and wrinkles that has formed from the use of our facial muscles; many ‘skin age reduction cream' manufacturers have tried to produce creams that reduce facial line but this is the only treatment that works, currently. Because botox paralyzes the facial muscles, normal movement, expressions and gestures are almost impossible to make; many people believe that overuse leaves the recipient with a look similar to that of a mannequin.

People still have enough movement to look fairly normal but not enough to cause these wrinkles; so in fact by taking these injections they help you to look younger. Injections of this very popular cosmetic treatment are still costly; often considered something only celebrities can afford because a single injection can cost anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand dollars. As a recent form of cosmetic enhancement it may be some time before the full facts about long term botox use will be known but for now, most people really aren't that concerned.