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BOTOX ® Cosmetic is the trade name for a medication made from a bacterial neurotoxin that paralyzes muscle (also marketed in near identical form by other manufacturers under the brand names Myobloc and Reloxin).
Originally used to treat severe muscular disorders of the eye muscles and face, the FDA approved botulinum toxin for cosmetic use in 2002. Reloxin, long used in Europe and South America under the name Dysport, is now also FDA-approved and essentially identical in effect, duration, and side-effects.
Since its approval, injection of BOTOX ® Cosmetic brand of botulinum toxin type A has become the common cosmetic procedure performed worldwide.
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Because BOTOX can selectively weaken muscular pull, it can be used to reshape normal as well as abnormal anatomy. Most patients use it to reduce frown lines and wrinkling, but it can also be used to treat a wide range of seemingly unrelated medical problems, from excessive sweating to swallowing difficulties to migraine headaches to chronic musculoskeletal pain.
Major downsides of BOTOX ® Cosmetic are expense and short duration of action, usually between 2 and 8 months. While generally considered safe, more than a few cases of respiratory depression and even death have been reported in non-cosmetic, high-dose applications.
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