BOTOX Trailblazer
Meet Dr Jean Carruthers, the woman who pioneered the cosmetic use of botulinum toxin and changed the face of, well, lots of people
Rapturous applause greeted Dr Jean Carruthers as she closed her keynote speech with the words “... and the rest is history!” at September’s annual conference of the British College of Aesthetic Medicine (BCAM). The BCAM is both a professional body and a charity advocating safe and ethical practice in aesthetic medicine and Jean, 74, an oculoplastic surgeon from Canada, is something of a celebrity in these circles.
Also known as “the godmother of Botox”, Jean had just recounted for the BCAM board and assembled press the “aha” moment she had in the 1980s on realising that botulinum toxin, which she was using to treat patients with blepharospasm (frequent blinking or twitching), could also smooth wrinkles. “One of my patients pointed out that I hadn’t treated the area between her brows at her last appointment. I apologised and said I didn’t think she had been spasming there. She replied: ‘Oh no, but I get this beautiful untroubled expression when you inject me there.’”
Jean went home and said to her husband Alastair, a consultant dermatologist, that they should do a study on the cosmetic use of this toxin, which they did, and in 1991 they presented their paper to a dumbfounded audience at the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.