People choose Botox® to turn back time and make deep facial wrinkles disappear. But did you know you can prevent wrinkles by starting Botox injections before forehead furrows and laugh lines settle in?
Though Botox is safe, it’s natural to feel nervous about any treatment involving facial injections. Because learning about what to expect can offset anxiety, our Allure Dermatology team wrote this blog to explain the process.
When you’re ready to fight against wrinkles, scheduling a consultation is the first step. During your consultation, we examine your skin and learn about your concerns.
Once we understand how you want to protect or improve your appearance, we can determine if Botox is the best way to achieve your goals.
Botox works differently than dermal fillers, another popular injectable for erasing wrinkles. Each treatment is designed for a particular type of wrinkle:
As people age, their skin thins, losing moisture, strength, and elasticity. Exposure to sunlight also causes skin damage that accelerates aging. We treat these static wrinkles with dermal fillers.
The deepest wrinkles develop over years of muscles pulling on your skin to make expressions. These wrinkles include:
Botox excels at treating dynamic wrinkles because it relaxes the muscles. As a result, the treated wrinkles virtually disappear.
Your risk of bruising after Botox treatment increases if you drink alcohol or take nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), aspirin, ibuprofen, or prescription blood thinners.
Avoid alcohol and over-the-counter medications before and after your Botox appointment. It also helps to stop taking blood thinners briefly, but talk with your prescribing physician and us before stopping prescription medications.
Before starting your treatment, we review what we discussed during your consultation, explain the Botox procedure, and answer your questions. Here’s what to expect.
We begin by cleansing your face. Then, we determine the number of injections you’ll need by carefully mapping the treatment areas. We identify the muscles to treat for each wrinkle and mark where we need to inject Botox to stop muscle contractions.
Once we know the number of injections, we prepare your customized treatment, ensuring each needle is ready with the appropriate dose.
The needles we use for Botox are so tiny they cause little to no discomfort. However, you may experience a slight pinching or burning sensation. We ensure your comfort by applying a cold treatment or topical anesthetic to the area.
As soon as the area is numb, your treatment goes quickly because the injection sites are marked, and the needles are filled with Botox and ready to go.
After you leave the office, you can return to work and most of your usual activities. However, we ask you to follow these self-care guidelines:
These steps ensure you get the best results by preventing the toxin from migrating away from the injection site, giving it time to take effect in the muscle.
Botox is a neurotoxin that gradually stops nerves from activating muscle contractions. You should start seeing results within one to two days, but optimal results may take a few weeks.
Since this is your first treatment, and the timing varies for each person, you won’t know exactly how long it will take for your results to fade. However, Botox lasts up to four months for most people.
After the results wear off, you can safely schedule another treatment to maintain your beautiful new appearance.
Our Allure Dermatology team helps each person maintain or restore a vibrant, young appearance. If Botox isn’t the best treatment, we offer other options, including microneedling, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injections, and dermal fillers. Call our office or book online today.
