Botox Injections Skin Treatment

These days the quick fix for signs of aging like saggy skin and age lines is a course of botox injections; for such a recognized treatment it is surprising how many people haven’t a clue 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. The first research into Botulinum toxin was carried out over five decades ago; It used originally for disorders of the brain.

A few decades later after much research, the FDA granted permission for it to be used medically and the first patients to make use of the drug were those with eye conditions; conditions that caused uncontrollable blinking and crossed eyes were the first people to benefit. In the year 2000 it was approved to treat cervical dystonia; 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; after this in 2002 the FDA approved it’s use on the condition that it was a cosmetic procedure.

Botox has a paralyzing affect when it is injected into areas of the forehead which control the muscles that cause frowning; after a number of treatments the lines start to lessen. Continued treatments mean in many cases the lines disappear and now the same treatment is used on other areas of the face like the crows’ feet, laughter lines and other facial wrinkles. The injections are a purified and watered down version of the sometimes fatal Botulinum poison; these treatments are only a fraction of the true strength which, in other forms, could make us seriously unwell.

The problem is that when we laugh, cry or frown for example, lines and wrinkles appear caused by the muscles that have helped create the expression; these injections can help eliminate those lines. These lines are formed on our faces after years of wear and tear; whilst many manufacturers have tried to produce creams that eliminate these wrinkles and creases (unsuccessfully), this treatment can at least for a short period. Muscles in the area of the botox injection become paralyzed temporarily so they cannot move fully; these treatments provide the user with a facial surface that is smooth and often referred to as looking like a dummy or mannequin.

Because frown line, wrinkles and facial creases have all but disappeared, it provides the user with a look of someone much younger. Injections of this very popular cosmetic treatment are still costly; with injections in the low to very high hundreds of dollars each, it looks to remain expensive for some time to come. It may be a few years yet before we see the result of long term use of botox but that doesn’t seem to concern those people who are using it at this moment.