Botox

BOTOX^® Cosmetic is the brand name for a type of botulinum toxin manufactured by Allergan, Inc. BOTOX^® is a toxin produced by a strain of bacteria, Clostridium botulinum. In case you're wondering, this is the same bacteria that can cause botulism, which is a type of food poisoning. In high enough quantities, the toxin can cause death by paralysis. This is why preventing botulism food poisoning is so important.

Scientists found that small, diluted amounts of this toxin could cause muscle paralysis when injected directly into the muscle. If the amount is small enough, it causes controlled weakening of the muscle, and not full-blown muscle paralysis.

Botox^® was originally approved in the latter half of the 1980s for treating certain types of conditions caused by muscle spasms, such as dystonia (involuntary muscle contractions), strabismus (crossed eyes or lazy eye), spasmodic torticollis (uncontrolled neck movement), and blepharospasm (uncontrollable blinking).

In 2002, the FDA approved Botox^® for the treatment of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows. Today, it is used to treat other areas of the face, including the forehead and the crow's feet at the corners of the eye.

Botox^® injections were the number one most popular cosmetic treatment in 2009 with almost 2.6 million injections performed!