Cosmetic Botox: The inadvertent discovery

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Botox turns 10

The injectable treatment Botox was invented a decade ago and has gone from a fad to a household name. It’s now being used for much more than just wrinkles

The injectable treatment Botox turns 10 years old this year.  Initially a passing fad, Botox has evolved into a household name – and is now used for much more than just treating wrinkles.

Drs. Jean and Alastair Carruthers, the husband and wife team behind Botox, spoke with Fox News’ Anna Kooiman about the development of the age-defying product.

Jean, an ophthalmologist, was using the treatment – originally known as Oculinum – to treat patients with severe eye spasms.  By injecting their overactive eye muscles, the condition would disappear.

Jean got the idea to use Oculinum for cosmetic purposes after one of her patients got upset with Jean for not treating her forehead.

“I said, ‘I’m so sorry, I would have treated you there, but I didn’t think you were spasming there,’” said Jean.  “And she said, ‘I know I’m not spasming there, but every time you treat me there, I get this beautiful, untroubled expression.’”

Jean then suggested to her husband Alastair – a dermatologist – that he should use Oculinum to treat his patients with wrinkles.  As a test run, Alastair treated his office receptionist Kathy first to see if it had an effect on the lines in her forehead.

“Jean injected her, and two days later I looked at Kathy and said, ‘Wow!’” Alastair said.  “The result was dramatic by comparison to what I could do with the tools we had at the time.”

Ten years later, Botox is more popular than ever and is being used more and more by men as well as women.  And its benefits expand beyond just wiping away wrinkles – it is also used as a treatment for excessive underarm sweat, chronic migraines and overactive bladders, just to name a few.