Health Mastery

Botox has become a well used cosmetic enhancement over the last few years by ridding people of age line and wrinkles; there is still a huge gap in most people’s knowledge about how it creates the effect it does. To help with this, we need to step back a few decades to when this substance was first researched and used. It was first studied back in the early 1960’s and derived from the now famous poison Botulinum toxin; it was tested for use as a treatment for disorders of the mind.

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 is where severe neck and shoulder contractions were causing discomfort to a number of people, but other eye conditions were included in this approval. The strange discovery they made quite by accident was that botox helps to reduce the visible lines between the eyebrows; after further tests in 2002 the FDA allowed it to be used for the first cosmetic enhancement and the drug finally had a new field of use.

When Botox is injected into the muscles of the forehead, it blocks nerve impulses which results in the weakening of the muscles that cause frowning; given sufficient treatments, frown lines that the person has lived with for many years will gradually fade. 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 actually a diluted form of botulism; these treatments are only a fraction of the true strength which, in other forms, could make us seriously unwell.

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. After years of making these expressions the wear and tear on your face begins to be noticeable and the lines start to become permanent; 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. These botox injections are used directly into the muscles that control facial expressions and paralyzing them for a short period, effectively making it almost impossible for a person to smile; that’s why people who have had these treatments can look like mannequins.

Whilst the face can still provide expressions, they are seriously reduced but this give the effect of someone looking much younger than they really are. Whilst popular this cosmetic treatment is still very expensive for what it is; with injections in the low to very high hundreds of dollars each, it looks to remain expensive for some time to come. 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.

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