Botox Injections - Not For Everyone

Botox has now been used for a number of years for men and women that want to hide signs of aging; there is still a huge gap in most people's knowledge about how it creates the effect it does. In order to appreciate just what this is we need a brief history lesson into its discovery, quite a while ago now. The first research into Botulinum toxin was carried out over five decades ago; it was used to treat patients with neurological problems.

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. By the new millennium it had been approved for a number of other conditions including cervical dystonia; it was found to be effective at helping patients with neck and shoulder contractions but other eye disorders were included at the same time. In their research, doctors discovered that Botox softened the frown lines between the eyebrows; following this the FDA finally recognized the implications and agreed its commercial use in 2002.

You see botox is a neuro toxin, meaning it paralyses the muscles it is injected into and makes them relax; given sufficient treatments, frown lines that the person has lived with for many years will gradually fade. The lines will to the casual observer, disappear but the same process can now be used on laughter lines around the eyes and forehead lines as well. The injections actually contain a purified form of the Botulinum toxin; because of the purification process it can be used in cosmetic surgery.

Unfortunately, lines and creases form whenever we laugh (especially as we get older) or make any other facial gesture; they are caused by muscles contracting. The wonderful thing too many people is the treatment can help reduce and often eliminate the signs of aging that have taken years to appear; many cosmetic manufacturers have tried to create creams to eliminate the creases but this is the only treatment to date that can actually rid them from us. Muscles in the area of the botox injection become paralyzed temporarily so they cannot move fully; because facial movement is reduced, it can give a doll like appearance to the user.

Depending on the amount of treatments, a person can look fairly normal but their facial gestures will be restricted so that the creases and lines do not show. However, this cosmetic treatment is still expensive; with injections in the low to very high hundreds of dollars each, it looks to remain expensive for some time to come. The side-effects of regular botox use may take some time to appear as it is only a recent addition to the cosmetic surgeon's armory but for now, its use does not seem to be diminishing.

Copyright 2008 Ron King. This article may be reprinted if the resource box is left intact and the links live.