
“The eyebrows form but a small part of the face, and yet they darken
the whole of life by the scorn they express.”
-Demetrius
Botox can treat many conditions. The conditions I use it for include:
Botox is a highly purified protein that is produced by a bacterium called Clostridium Botulinum. This protein is very fragile and has to be kept frozen until shortly before use to maintain its effectiveness. The bacteria itself is not in Botox®.
Botox is administered through an injection using a very fine needle that is almost as thin as a human hair. It is placed directly into the tissue that is to be affected. Usually, this tissue is a muscle but it can also be skin that contains sweat glands.
Botox blocks the release of the neurotransmitter that connects nerves to muscles (and sweat glands). Without this neurotransmitter, the muscle can’t contract and goes into a relaxed state. Botox has no effect on the nerves that relay our sense of touch.
Humans are somewhat unique in that we have many muscles in our face that connect to the skin for the purpose of making facial expressions. Each time we use those muscles it causes the overlying skin to bunch up. Like any other material, if you bunch skin up over and over again, eventually it wrinkles. If you stop bunching the skin up, the wrinkles improve or go away completely depending on how deep they were to start with.
Botox can be tailored to your own desires to produce the look that you want with the help of my botox injections. Most people are perfectly happy to get rid of the ability to scowl and squint since these are generally not considered flattering expressions. The forehead is the area most tailored to the individual’s desires. Treating the crow’s feet usually has no discernable effect on facial expressions. Since Botox is temporary, I can adjust where and how much I use to produce exactly the effect we want.
Like any medication, there are side effects and these depend on where the Botox® is used. Some of the side effects include bruising, irritation, droopy eyelid/eyebrow, and headache. All of these side effects are temporary and usually resolve in days to weeks.
Botox usually lasts about 3 months on facial muscles and 6 months to a year for sweating. If used repeatedly, Botox can last longer.
Depending on the individual any type of injection can hurt, but the needles used for Botox® are extremely small. The Botox® injection process is very quick with minimal pain. Treatment requires minimal downtime, allowing you to return to your daily routine immediately after receiving the injections. Some patients describe Botox® as feeling like a pinch. Your doctor may use ice or a topical numbing cream to numb the injection site before administering the injections.