The Story of Botox

To know more about the story of Botox, check our Magazine and thank Dr Marcus Mehta. Botox is the brand name for the drug Botulinum toxin A. There are several brands of the toxin available, but Allergan’s Botox is the longest established brand, having been manufactured since the 1990’s. 

The story of how Botox became what it is today started with an accidental discovery. In the early 1990s, Botox was routinely being used to treat spasm in the eye. An American eye surgeon, Dr Jean Carruthers, found her patients were coming back to her despite their treatment being completed as it was helping with frown lines in the brow and forehead. She spoke to her husband, a dermatologist and, after testing it on their willing receptionist, Botox cosmetic was born! 

It is now the most common cosmetic treatment in the world, making up over 40% of the UK nonsurgical aesthetic market and, with over 7 million treatments a year carried out worldwide, it has a proven safety record. 

It has a simple mechanism of operation, temporarily relaxing muscle movement, which helps soften exaggerated movements of facial expression. It is typically used for the frown line between the brows, horizontal forehead wrinkles and the crow’s feet. Its use is not limited to aesthetics and it is also used to treat muscle spasm, bladder dysfunction, migraine and temporarily reducing sweating - an armpit treatment that’s very popular with my patients in the summer! 

It’s important to remember that Botulinum toxin is a prescription only drug, so it should only be administered by an experienced and trained healthcare professional. Always ask your practitioner what brand of Botulinum toxin they are using, how long they have used it for and who is prescribing it for them (as you legally must have a face to face consultation with your prescriber). 

As a drug that is not reversible (you have to wait 3 months for it to wear off) it’s vital you seek an experienced and knowledgeable practitioner for treatment; otherwise you could be walking around with asymmetrical eyebrows for quite some time!