Botox
Botox is a word that furrows as many brows as it smoothes. It’s a controversial topic. Many people have strong opinions for or against it. My opinion, as always, is to know the facts so you can make your own confident and educated decision. My experience has been that many people don’t know the facts.
Botox is a brand name for a neuro toxin. Another brand name of the same thing is Dysport. This neuro or nerve toxin is derived from the same bacteria that causes botulism (“botch choo lism”). Botulism is food poisoning.
Botox or Dysport have medical applications but they are best known for their cosmetic ones, most famously, smoothing out of the glabellar lines in between the eyebrows.
Both are used in other cosmetic applications on the face but neither are FDA approved or Health Canada approved for any other cosmetic use on the face. Using Botox in crows feet, for example, is called “off label” because this usage is not approved by the governing bodies in the States or Canada.
Botox is approved for “temporary use” in people aged 18 to 65 but we have people over this age who are offered it. We also have people who have been using Botox constantly with no rest in between injections for years.