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Botox®:

Introduction

Botox is the brand name of a toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. In large amounts, this toxin can cause botulism, which you probably associate with food poisoning. Despite the fact that one of the most serious complications of botulism is paralysis, scientists have discovered a way to use it to human advantage. Small, diluted amounts can be directly injected into specific muscles causing controlled weakening of the muscles.

The FDA approved such usage in the late 1980s upon the discovery that Botox could stop ailments like blepharospasm (uncontrolled blinking) and strabismus (lazy eye). Cosmetic physicians have been using Botox for years to successfully treat wrinkles and facial creases. In April 2002, Botox gained FDA approval for treatment of moderate-to-severe frown lines between the eyebrows - called glabellar lines. However, Botox is often used for other areas of the face as well.

How Does Botox Work?

Botox blocks signals from the nerves to the muscles. The injected muscle can no longer contract, which causes the wrinkles to relax and soften.

It is most often used on forehead lines, crow's feet (lines around the eye) and frown lines. Wrinkles caused by sun damage and gravity will not respond to Botox.

How Long Does a Botox Injection Last?

The effects from Botox will last four to six months. As muscle action gradually returns, the lines and wrinkles begin to re-appear and wrinkles need to be re-treated. The lines and wrinkles often appear less severe with time because the muscles are being trained to relax.

What Are the Side Effects of Botox?

Temporary bruising is the most common side effect. Headaches, which resolve in 24-48 hours, can occur, but this is rare. A small percentage of patients may develop eyelid drooping. This usually resolves in three weeks. This development is usually caused by migration of the Botox and for this reason, you shouldn't rub the treated area for 12 hours after injection or lay down for three to four hours. There have been no allergies associated with Botox to date.

Who Should Not Receive Botox Injection?

Dermal Fillers:

Wrinkles are a part of the natural aging process but sometimes they make us look older than we actually are. Within the last few years’ people are starting to live healthier lifestyles to live longer lives but sometimes diet and exercise are not enough to keep our skin from showing our age. The aging process causes the face and hands to lose underlying fat and collagen, which then causes our skin to sag, and we get wrinkles.

Inject able wrinkle fillers and dermal fillers have become more popular with the instant effect they have addressing skin sagging and wrinkle problems that result from aging, sun damage, skin trauma, scarring, or disease. The Inject able wrinkle and dermal fillers are most commonly used to treat facial lines and wrinkles, hollow cheeks and eyes, receding chins, thinning lips, and wrinkles between the eyes and may even be used to hide nose bumps or fill in and plump thinning skin on the hands.

Dermal Fillers can be used to correct problem areas such as laugh lines, smile lines, smoker’s lines, and marionette lines but there are also ways to use Dermal Fillers to enhance certain features. The most popular are the cheekbones, chins, jaw lines and eyebrows. Treatment can take as short a time as 30 minutes depending on the number of injection sites and the inject ables used. These injections are virtually painless and the results can be seen almost immediately.

There are numerous Dermal Fillers available to choose from including Restylane, Juvederm, Perlane, Radiesse and more. The effects of Dermal Fillers can last from 3-18 months depending on which filler is used and in which location it is injected. In some cases the Dermal Fillers will stimulate your skin to make its own collagen, which means you may have improvement that lasts for years after the Dermal Filler, has dissolved.