How safe is botox

You may have read about Botox Cosmetic in advertisements, blogs and celebrity gossip magazines, or heard about it from your friends. But there are a lot of misconceptions about Botox treatment and how it is used.

Botox Cosmetic has been available by prescription in the United States since the FDA approved it in 2002. The exact same Botox injected for medical purposes (such as uncontrolled muscle spasms) was first approved by the FDA in 1989.

In 2015, it was the top nonsurgical cosmetic procedure in the U.S. among both women and men, with 4,267,038 injections (of Botox, Dysport and Xeomin) performed by physicians and their physician assistants and nurse injectors. Men received 10.3 percent of the injections.*

In this article we present only the facts, as well as recommendations from respected medical professionals. After reading it, please feel free to contact us with any questions you might have by using the form below.

What Is Botox Cosmetic?

Botox, or onabotulinumtoxinA, is used for three main purposes: muscle spasm control, severe underarm sweating and cosmetic improvement. In this article we concentrate on the third use, achieved with the product called Botox Cosmetic, which contains botulinum toxin type A (the active ingredient), human albumin (a protein found in human blood plasma) and sodium chloride.

Botox Cosmetic is used for the temporary smoothing of glabellar lines (also called frown lines), which are the lines between your eyebrows that can make you look tired, unhappy or angry.

It is FDA-approved for this use and in this area only. However, it is often used off-label for horizontal forehead lines, crow's feet, marionette lines at the corners of the mouth and smoker's lines around the lips.

Don't confuse Botox Cosmetic with injectable fillers. Dermal fillers work differently, plumping up tissues so that lines and wrinkles diminish or disappear (Restylane, Radiesse and Juvederm are examples).

Your practitioner can help you decide which product(s) will solve your particular appearance issues, though as a general rule, Botox is used mostly in the upper portion of the face, and fillers are used mostly in other areas.