A "gummy" smile, one that's characterized by a smile that shows too much of the gums, usually results from "excessive lip elevation" when the upper lip rises too far above the upper teeth when smiling. Injecting Botox into the upper lip weakens the upper lip's retractor muscles so that it won't raise as high and your smile will seem better-balanced.
Details: Can be done in about five minutes. Usually lasts for four to six months. Costs range from $200-$300.
Scoop: On his website, Dr. Aharonov, a cosmetic surgeon in Beverly Hills says, "This technique is not for the novice Botox injector. Too much, and your lip wont raise enough, too little and you will need more, or if injected asymmetrically, you might have a funny asymmetrical smile."
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Migraine headaches (FDA approved)
Last October in the U.S., Allergan received the go-ahead from the Food and Drug Administration to treat patients suffering chronic migraines with Botox. (Britain had it approved a few months earlier.)
Traditionally, migraine headaches have been difficult, if not impossible, to treat in some patients. They're typically accompanied by a variety of unwelcome symptoms including dizziness, nausea, sensitivity to light and vomiting. And, while doctors remain uncertain as to exactly how Botox injections (typically injected into seven areas around the temples, forehead, neck and shoulders) really work to ease the symptoms, the prevailing theory is that it prevents pain signals from reaching nerve endings.
Details: 31 injections into seven areas every three months at a cost of $1,000-$2,000 makes this quite expensive -- although, now that it's been FDA approved, insurance carriers are likely to cover it.
Scoop: In an interview with the "New York Times" last fall, Radall Stanicky, a global research VP at the investment firm Goldman Sachs said, "The cost is prohibitive for some, but, given the debilitating challenges of having migraines more than 15 days a month, if Botox can cut down on that, it�s clearly going to be a big opportunity.�
Here's the story about how one of today's most revered and popular wrinkle treatments came to be. (And how it's been morphing into something much more.)
Once upon a time in San Francisco, an ophthalmologist named Dr. Alan Scott sought a cure for crossed eyes. By the mid-'60s the good doctor realized that if he could just weaken the muscles that caused the crossing that he'd have the solution. Several attempts with various paralytic potions failed and then, one day, he got lucky. A biochemist who'd been working with a purified strain of botulism (as a potential military biological weapon) sent him some to try and, hooray, it worked. Dr. Scott named the drug Oculinum and got it FDA approved to treat those crossed eyes. In 1991, the miracle med was sold to Allergan for $9 million. They changed the name to Botox, secured some of their own FDA approvals, began marketing it as a wrinkle paralyzer and we all lived happily, furrow-free, ever after.
It's amazing to think how, in less than 20 years that it's been FDA approved for the "treatment of glabellar frown lines," Botox has become a verb used in the vernacular with astonishing regularity, right up there with others like "TiVo" or "Xerox." But, because it's so famous for its wrinkle reducing effects, Botox's (many) other uses have been overshadowed.
With six FDA approvals for wide-ranging uses (and an estimated 90 patent applications pending), thanks to Botox, Allergan rakes in an astounding $1.3 billion worldwide on both medical and cosmetic uses. "The therapeutic [uses] will end up being bigger than the cosmetic [ones] because there are some big unmet medical needs there,� says David E. I. Puyott, Allergan's CEO, of the seemingly limitless future of the product.
So, if it's not just for wrinkles anymore, what else is Botox being used for -- both legitimately with FDA approval and "off label" with doctors experimenting in their own practices? From helping with benign enlarged prostates to working on several pancreatic disorders, Botox, as the "New York Times" says, is a crossed eye medication that can be "serially reincarnated for other applications."
Let's take a look at the most promising ones as well as the ones we'd raise our eyebrows at -- if we could�
