People searching for ways to have younger looking faces will probably arrange a course of Botox injections; despite how often this treatment is used, few people understand the method it uses. 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. It may be famous now for its use in cosmetic surgery but it wasn’t always that way when it was first being studied by scientists half a century ago; it was used to treat patients with neurological problems.

In 1989 it was finally approved by the FDA to treat eye muscle disorders; some of these included patients with excessive, involuntary blinking and for those suffering with crossed eyes plus, on occasion, wrinkles. By the new millennium it had been approved for a number of other conditions including 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; it was after this discovery that it officially came into existence and was FDA approved for cosmetic use in 2002.

Botox paralyses the muscles that cause wrinkles keeping them in a relaxed state; in time frown lines gradually soften and subside if sufficient treatments are given. 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 form used in these injections is one that has been cleaned up and diluted, posing no threat; these treatments are only a fraction of the true strength which, in other forms, could make us seriously unwell.

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. After years of making these expressions the wear and tear on your face begins to be noticeable and the lines start to become permanent; when these creases become permanent, no kind of skin cream can get rid of them but this treatment can eliminate them temporarily. Muscles in the area of the botox injection become paralyzed temporarily so they cannot move fully; many people believe that overuse leaves the recipient with a look similar to that of a mannequin.

Because frown line, wrinkles and facial creases have all but disappeared, it provides the user with a look of someone much younger. Some will be happy that the people who can afford the treatment are still the wealthy with individual treatments still costing a great deal of money; this is why it has been coined as something only celebrities have performed because the least expensive injection can still cost upwards of 300 dollars to in excess of 1,000 dollars. Whether there are any long term effects from continued use of botox is still unknown as the treatment is still to new but for those people who do use it, it doesn’t seem to matter.