Word: botox
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...sufficiently bothered by wrinkles to stick needles into your face? That's the question millions of Americans will be asking themselves once the Botox craze starts in earnest...
...Botox injections, as you may have heard, are the biggest thing since nose jobs. They are already the most popular cosmetic procedure in the U.S.; about 1.6 million Americans got the shots last year--a so-called off-label use of a drug originally approved to calm twitchy eye muscles. The fact that the shots reduce wrinkles too was an unanticipated bonus; doctors were allowed to use Botox for that purpose, but the manufacturer, Allergan, couldn't advertise it to the public...
...company can, thanks to the FDA's decision last week to approve Botox for the removal of certain wrinkles. Once the ads start, clinics will be inundated by women--and men--yearning to be wrinkle free. Before you schedule an appointment, though, you should know what Botox can and can't do, and what the downside might...
...Botox is short for "botulinum toxin," the substance that causes botulism, a sometimes fatal form of food poisoning. It sounds scarier than it is; in small quantities, Botox merely interrupts nerve impulses to muscles in the face. The lines that furrow the forehead when you raise your eyebrows, the crow's feet that appear when you squint and the creases between the eyebrows when you frown are all caused by tension in underlying muscles, which contract and squeeze the skin like an accordion. Botox keeps this from happening...
Fortunately, Botox is so diluted that serious side effects like allergic reactions are rare. If the doctor slips, in most cases the worst that can happen is that you will lose the ability to raise your eyelids all the way; or, if you're getting shots around the mouth, a mistake could leave you drooling. But even a perfectly executed procedure has consequences. Depending on which wrinkles you go after, you might not be able to frown or raise your eyebrows or squint...