Plastic surgeons use Botox in order to treat wrinkles and facial folds.
At the moment, Botox is used to treat frown lines, crows feet and expression lines.
Botox works to bind to the nerve endings and thus the injected muscle does not contract and remains relaxed.
But even so, Botox is not an universal problem solver. Those wrinkles caused by sun burns or gravity do not respond to Botox treatments. Botox treatments only act on the wrinkles caused by contractions just beneath the surface of the skin.
Procedure:
Botulinum toxin is injected with a small needle into specific muscles of the face. Most of the persons following this treatment suffer from a minor discomfort.
The procedure lasts only for a few minutes and does not require anesthesia and the effects are visible after a period of three to seven days.
Frequent side effects:
In the first two days, the patient may suffer from redness of the skin or minor facial pain. In order to reduce local redness it is recommended to avoid consuming alcohol for at least one week before the treatment. It is also recommended not to take aspirin two weeks before the procedure.
Allergic reactions might also occur and it is also possible to develop immunity to Botox thus rendering further procedures ineffective.
Very rarely, asymmetry of the face can occur due to muscle relaxation.
Complications:
Botox can also infiltrate into areas other than the treated one, causing thus local paralysis of other nerves. Patients should avoid sleeping on the injected area or rubbing it.
Recovery:
Normally, the recovery period lasts for one or two days until the local redness vanishes.
Results:
The results last for four to six months. As the muscle contraction slowly reappears, new winkles and fine lines become visible.
But as the muscles are trained to relax the new lines are less more obvious.
Leave a Reply