This week marks the 20-year anniversary of when Botox got approved for cosmetic purposes. We are excited to celebrate.
What is Botox?
Botox is a purified protein used to treat wrinkles cause by facial expressions such as frown lines. Botox works by relaxing muscles tot smooth out your wrinkles. Botox is an easy treatment and provides consistent outstanding results.
History of Botox
Before Botox was approved for cosmetic purposes, it was used for many years to treat eye twitching, a condition called blepharospasms. Botox was approved by the FDA for use in frown lines in 2002 and has now been used for twenty years for cosmetic purposes. Frown lines are the vertical or sometimes oblique or diagonal lines you see between your eyebrows when you frown. You have a group of muscles just under your skin that moves the inner portion of your eyebrows down and in. When these muscles contract, you see frown lines. Over time with a lot of expression, you can sometimes see etched in lines without even frowning. Botox helps improve these lines.
Botox was later cleared for use to treat crow’s feet and horizontal forehead wrinkles. Crow’s feet are the lines you see around your eyes when you smile or squint. Horizontal forehead wrinkles are the horizontal lines you see on your upper forehead when you raise your eyebrows. Before being approved for these areas, Botox was used off-label to treat these wrinkles. The benefit of it being approved by the FDA and now on label for these areas is that more people know about it and injectors can be trained more easily. There have been many studies on Botox for cosmetic and other purposes and there are ongoing studies on Botox to get it approved for other concerns such as neck bands.
Alternatives to Botox
Botox is one type of protein used to treat wrinkles caused by facial expression. There are many others available. Currently, there are a few others available in the United States and many more globally. The first alternative approved by the FDA was Dysport. Shortly after Xeomin was approved. About ten years after that Jeuveau was approved. There is also another one called daxibotulinum toxin that is nott yet available. More and more are coming.
Alle Promotions
Alle is a rewards program by the makers of Botox where you get points for each Botox treatment and you can use your points towards discounts at your next treatment. You can also get points for filler treatments and Kybella. And since last year, you now get points for other treatments such as laser rejuvenation. Be sure to download the Alle app and register so you can get points. It’s especially important now because there are targeted promotions where you can get random rewards up to $125. Also, the newly launched Alle Flash is an addition to this program. With Alle Flash, you scan a QR code and you may get surprise points at your appointment. Again, you’ll need the Alle app for this; it’s fast and easy to download. In addition to the targeted promotions, you will get double points when you get filler and Botox at the same appointment.
We are excited about the 20 year anniversary of Botox cosmetic and look forward to Botox Cosmetic day later this year.
Dr. Alex has performed over 10,000 cosmetic treatments with many satisfied patients. Contact us to schedule an appointment for a free consultation with Dr. Alex in our Encino, CA office.