Wrinkle Reduction

Wrinkle Reduction with Botox
 
Facial lines and wrinkles generally begin to appear in early thirties. On the upper part of the face these are usually the result of expression muscle actions, such as frown lines, smile lines around the eyes and forehead lines. With repeated frowning or squinting or repetitive lip pursing through smoking, these muscles force the skin to develop wrinkles and lines so that the skin can contract and relax, rather like an accordion.

On the lower half of the face these are normally due to gravitational ageing and environmental factors such as sun exposure and smoking etc.

For some people these lines are not evident when they are relaxed. For others, they are prominent even when relaxed and certainly more prominent during certain expressions. Wrinkle relaxing injections dramatically soften facial expression lines such as frown lines, temple lines, and crow's feet or smile lines around the eyes. This maintains a natural and more youthful appearance.

All these lines can be treated by Botulinum toxin which is marketed under the names, Botox, Xeomin, Vistable and Dysport. Botulinum Toxin A is a purified protein produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacteria. The dose used for cosmetic purposes is in an extremely diluted form, and about 3000 times less than the toxic dose. Botox is a prescription only medicine and would only be prescribed following a consultation.

Botulinum toxin has been used in the effective treatment of medical conditions for decades, and has only been more widely associated with cosmetic purposes in recent years. The injection of this chemical reversibly blocks the nerve impulses responsible for contraction of the tiny facial muscles that are related to expression lines. The muscles therefore cannot contract and tend to relax.

As the muscles relax the lines start disappearing, and the overlying skin appears smooth and unwrinkled. The untreated muscles in the area are still able to contract normally, thus allowing normal facial expression to be unaffected.
 
Treatable Areas

This effective and inexpensive treatment achieves superb results and the ideal areas to treat are the deep creases and wrinkles between the eyebrows in the frown area, the lines on the forehead, laughter lines and crows feet radiating away from the eyes. Other areas where this treatment may work is for pout lines on the lips, marionette lines around mouth angles, tight chins and tight neck muscles lines.

Although the results are dramatic, it will not radically change your facial appearance. The muscles are simply relaxed, so you can still frown, smile, or look surprised without the wrinkles and creases between your brows.

The Treatment

A muscle relaxant is injected using a disposable syringe with a very fine needle. A very small amount of the relaxant is injected very precisely into several locations on the face. The pain associated with the injections is minimal. Many patients describe it as a bug bite sting for only a couple of seconds.

No local anaesthetic is needed and you can resume normal activities immediately. Treatment takes around 15 minutes, depending on the number of areas you wish to treat.

Once you have been treated it usually takes two to five days before treatment actually takes effect and 2- 4 weeks to notice the full effect.

You may need to have top-up injections to maintain your desired appearance. Clinical studies indicate that the duration of treatment benefit is increased over time so that you should require injections less frequently in the future.
 
What does the procedure involve?

A very fine needle is passed through the skin into the superficial muscles, and a tiny amount of Botox is injected into each overactive muscle, causing it to relax. It takes between 3 -5 days for this to work and up to two weeks for it to become fully effective. The relaxation lasts for between 2 and 6 months, sometimes longer.

During this time the muscle gets smaller since it is unable to exercise itself. Over a 3 to 6 month period the nerve impulses return allowing the muscle to contract again. After a number of injections, the muscle may have relaxed to the extent that it no longer has enough strength to create deep expression lines.
 
What are the risks and likely after-effects?

Because Botox is not permanent, all side effects are minor and short-lived. The most common ones are minor swelling, discomfort during injection and bruising. In some cases the toxin can migrate and cause a temporary weakness of nearby muscles. In rare cases there can be a drooping of an eyelid or asymmetry of facial expression. There are no long-term side effects.