Botulinum toxin

Botulinum toxin A is a very successful medical treatment for facial lines and wrinkles.

How does it work?

BOTOX®, a registered trade mark of Allergan Inc., and Dysport® (Ipsen's product) are different forms of purified botulinum toxin A, and are produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, the cause of a dangerous disease called botulism. Botulinum toxin is a neuromuscular blocking agent, which means it causes paralysis of the injected muscle by preventing the release of acetylcholine from motor nerve terminals. Without its nerve supply, the muscle fibre withers away. The muscle strengthens again as the nerves regenerate.

Botulinum toxin reduces sweating by blocking the sympathetic nerve fibres that control sweat glands.

What can botulinum toxin be used for?

Botulinum toxin treatment was originally introduced to treat muscle spasms, including blepharospasm (spasms of the eyelids), strabismus (squint), cervical dystonia (torticollis of the neck) and spasticity due to cerebral palsy or other muscular diseases.

In patients treated for facial spasms it was noted that facial wrinkling decreased over the treated muscle. This experience lead to the development of botulinum toxin for the treatment of dynamic facial wrinkles.

People often dislike their central scowl lines (called glabellar lines), which are caused by the corrugator and procerus muscles contracting when concentrating, squinting, or frowning. Botulinum toxin injections into these muscles weaken them and successfully reduce the prominence of the line.

Subject relaxed prior to botulinum toxin injections	Subject frowning prior to botulinum toxin injectons
Subject relaxed after botulinum toxin injections	Subject attempting to frown after botulinum toxin injections