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National Botox Day Is A Thing And It's Happening This Month

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - Mark your calendars, National Botox Cosmetic Day is November 20th.

Allergan, which is the parent company of Botox, declared the holiday in order to celebrate its injectable product. Allergan's senior vice president of marketing, Carrie Storm, told WWD, "National Botox Cosmetic Day is meant to celebrate this iconic product that has become a part of American culture and educate consumers who want to learn more."

READ: DIY Injections? A Local Mom's Skin Care Crusade And The Risks She Takes For Beauty On A Budget.

Botox is used to treat a number of conditions, including neck spasms, excessive sweating, overactive bladder, and lazy eye. It's best known as a treatment to reduce wrinkles, specifically on the face. The injections temporarily prevent muscles from moving.

According to the Mayo Clinic, "Botox injections use a toxin called onobotulinumtoxinA to temporarily prevent a muscle from moving. This toxin is produced by the microbe that causes botulism, a type of food poisoning. Botox was the first drug to use botulinum toxin. Other products now include abobotulinumtoxinA (Dysport), rimabotulinumtoxinB (Myobloc) and incobotulinumtoxinA (Xeomin). Each is a little different, particularly when it comes to dosage units, so they aren't interchangeable."

The injections are typically done by experienced doctors, but there are several side effects:

  • Pain, swelling or bruising at the injection site
  • Headache or flu-like symptoms
  • Droopy eyelid or cockeyed eyebrows
  • Crooked smile or drooling
  • Eye dryness or excessive tearing

Botox was initially used to treat people with strabismus (crossed eyes) but during the tests, researchers discovered it reduced the wrinkles in monkeys. It got FDA-approval to treat glabellar lines (the skin between the eyebrows and above the nose) in 2002.

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