Botox®
Botox® for frown and worry lines is the fastest-growing cosmetic procedure in the industry according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS)
This procedure is one of the safest available for reduction of wrinkles. BOTOX® has been used safely and successfully in ophthalmology for over 14 years and for wrinkle therapy for almost 12 years. It has been approved by the FDA for neurological disorders. In the amounts used for wrinkle therapy, Botox has only temporary and minimal potential side effects.
At Dermatology Group Southern California you will always receive maximum strength, fresh BOTOX®. Although individuals may have slightly varied results, we will work with you to achieve natural results.
Botox® Benefits Card
Your reward card and extra perks for simply staying current with your Botox injections. Get your card at your next visit to our office and then activate your reward card online.
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How Botox® Cosmetic Works
A few drops of BOTOX® are injected with a tiny needle into the muscle that creates the wrinkle you don’t want to have. When BOTOX® is injected into a muscle, it blocks the nerve impulse from reaching that area, and as a result, the muscle weakens. As the muscle weakens, the skin overlying the muscle relaxes and the wrinkles in the skin gradually soften and often disappear.
BOTOX® treatment does not effect normal facial expressions when properly injected. The key to natural-looking results is dependent on injection technique and the correct amount of product injected. Our Physician Assistants have experience with hundreds of Botox injections.
Botulinum Toxin Type A (BOTOX® Cosmetic) is a protein complex produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which contains the same toxin that causes food poisoning. When used in a medical setting as an injectable form of sterile, purified botulinum toxin, small doses block the release of a chemical called acetylcholine by nerve cells that signal muscle contraction. By selectively interfering with the underlying muscles’ ability to contract, existing frown lines are smoothed out and, in most cases, are nearly invisible in a week.
Basically, Botox® blocks the signals that would normally tell your muscles to contract. If a specific muscle doesn’t receive the message to move, it can’t cause a wrinkle.
Botox® Treatment Options:
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- Frown and Worry Lines
- Crow’s Feet
- Bunny Lines
- Chemical Brow “Lift”
- Balance Brow Asymmetry
- Drooping Mouth Corners
- Lip Wrinkles and Asymmetric Lip Action
- Platysma Stranding (“Neck Banding”)
- Hyperhidrosis – Severe Underarm Sweating
- Ophthamological Conditions and Dystonia
Treatment Procedure
Location of the injections will be determined by examining your ability to move certain muscles in the selected area. The location, size, and use of the muscles that create a furrowed brow vary markedly among individuals.
No anesthesia is required, although you may choose to have the area numbed with a cold pack or anesthetic cream prior to injecting. Discomfort is usually minimal and brief. Most patients compare the sensation to a pin prick and treatment takes only a few minutes.
You may resume normal activity immediately. You may see a marked improvement in the moderate to severe frown lines between your brows within days. Improvement may continue for as long as a month, and could last up to 5 months. After that, the muscle action returns. When frown lines reappear, a repeat treatment is necessary to regain the results.
How To Lower The Incidence of Bruising with Botox®
Generally bruising is not experienced, but the possible incidence of bruising can be decreased by avoiding the following for 10 days prior to Botox injections:
- Aspirin
- Motrin or Ibuprofen
- Vitamin E
- Green Tea
These products thin the blood and make bruising more common. Post treatment icepacks further the potential for injection related bruising These guidelines work not only for Botox® but for all injectables.
Are there any side effects?
Side effects of BOTOX® are minimal, with slight discomfort upon injection of the solution. This may be minimized by the use of Emla cream one hour prior to the injection but most patients need no anesthesia at all. Bruising at the sight of injection may occur but is not common. One percent of patients develop a slight lowering or ptosis of one eyelid and, also rarely, asymmetry of facial expression. These effects are temporary and may not even be noticed by the patient.
Women’s Top 10 Questions About Injectables
The Anatomy of a Wrinkle
As an example we’ll look at the common “frown” of the glabellar lines. The lines that appear between your brows (glabellar lines) actually result from muscle movement and the passage of time. You may have heard the expression “wearing your emotions on your sleeve,” but in reality you wear them on your face. If you’re angry or annoyed, for example, you knit your brows together. Underneath your skin, your facial muscles contract, cause a pleating of the overlying skin, and then, as anyone can see, you’re frowning.
After years of crinkling and wrinkling, those glabellar lines start to linger longer and can become more pronounced. For women, whose faces tend to be more animated than men’s, and whose skin is typically more delicate, these lines may appear exaggerated and more permanent.
How glabellar lines are formed
Glabellar lines are the dynamic wrinkles between the brows caused by the contraction of corrugator and/or procerus muscles.
Movement of corrugator and procerus muscles can cause the skin between the brows to crease. As skin becomes less elastic over time, repeated contraction of these muscles may create visible lines and wrinkles.
BOTOX® Cosmetic works on the muscles that cause glabellar lines
BOTOX® Cosmetic is injected directly into the corrugator and procerus muscles, where it enters the nerve endings to block the release of acetylcholine, the chemical that causes muscles to contract. Once the muscles are at rest, skin becomes smoother.
Other above-mentioned wrinkles resulting from muscle contraction are treated in the same way. The resulting effect is both smoother facial features and a “lifting” effect as the BOTOX® serum allows those muscle functions to become more dominant.
Men are becoming equal fans of BOTOX®. Erasing frown and worry lines give a more assured appearance. And a special added psychological benefit? Seeing yourself “look” less stressed or angry actually triggers more positive emotions.
BOTOX® – Restylane, Botox®-Juvederm or Botox®-Perlane Combination Treatments
Using BOTOX® to relax the dynamic muscles that cause wrinkles is frequently combined with follow-up dermal fillers. Some lines on the face are a result of skin laxity and aging and are not affected by BOTOX®. These lines are readily improved with the use of either Restylane or Juvederm (both Hyaluronic acid fillers) collagen products. In some situations the Restylane can be injected during the same visit. Other times, such as when treating lip wrinkles, Juvederm or other selected filler will be placed several days later when the muscles have relaxed.
This particular combination treatment can effect a dramatic improvement for the entire facial area with some physicians reporting extended duration up to almost a year.