Whether you’re in your mid-20s, 40s, 50s, or older, you’ve probably heard of or know at least one person who has had or thought about getting Botox injections. The treatment is one of the most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures out there, so that odds of coming into contact with someone who’s tried it are pretty high.
Despite its popularity, or maybe because of it, there’s a lot of misinformation or confusion out there about Botox. If you’re considering Botox injections, here’s a quick rundown of what the treatment really does and what you can expect from it.
What’s the Deal with Botulinum Toxin?
First things first, let’s look at the main, active ingredient in Botox injections: botulinum toxin. Without botulinum toxin, Botox wouldn’t have its wrinkle-smoothing abilities. It also wouldn’t have the ability to treat muscle spasms, headaches, and the entire range of other issues Botox can help with (more on that below).
But, isn’t botulinum toxin, well, toxic and dangerous? The answer is yes and no. Botulinum toxin is a neurotoxin. If you were to eat some food contanimated with it or drink a vial of Botox, you would likely experience some very serious and potentially life-threatening effects, like facial weakness, paralysis and difficulty breathing.
There’s also a big risk if you go see someone who isn’t a medical professional or who doesn’t have any training or experience in administering Botox injections. The unskilled injector could give you too large of a dose or inject in the wrong area, putting you at risk for harm.
In the hands of a medical professional and a trained and experienced Botox injector, it’s a different story. Someone who’s been trained and who knows what he’s doing will know exactly where to place the injection, how much Botox to use and will give you instructions to minimize side effects and complications afterward.
It Treats Dynamic Wrinkles
Another important thing to know about Botox is that it only works on certain types of wrinkles. Botox won’t do much, if anything, to reduce wrinkles created by gravity or a loss of volume. It’s not a filler, so it has no way of helping to treat those wrinkles.
Instead, it works on dynamic wrinkles, which are the lines that form after you’ve made the same facial expressions day after year and year after year. Since everyone makes slightly different facial expressions, the type of dynamic lines people have can differ from person to person. One person might have visible frown lines between the eyebrows, another might have crinkly crow’s feet by the eyes, and yet another person might have horizontal lines across the forehead.
It Blocks Certain Nerve Signals
People often assume that Botox injections work by “freezing” a certain area. While it’s true that the injections reduce muscle movements by preventing certain nerve signals from reaching certain muscles, it’s not true that the injection will numb or freeze your face. You’ll still be able to feel cold air, heat and someone tapping on your forehead.
You’ll also still be able to make certain facial expressions. It’ll simply be that you won’t be able to move the muscles that contributed to the wrinkles. The area where the wrinkles are will relax and become smoother after a few days.
It Provides Temporary Results
The results from a Botox injection won’t be around forever. After about three months, the effects start to wear off and you’ll begin to be able to move the muscles again. Results are temporary because the main protein in Botox eventually stops working and begins to break down into individual amino acids. Your body either reuses those amino acids or flushes them out through the kidneys.
How long results last depend on a few factors. It often takes longer for results to fade in smaller muscles. Larger muscles tend to break apart the protein more quickly.
It Has Lots of Other Uses
Botox isn’t only used to minimize wrinkles. In fact, the medical benefits of Botox were first used to treat people with eye problems, such as crossed eyes. Its cosmetics benefits were discovered when patients receiving the injections also had visible smoother skin.
Today, the FDA has approved Botox for a variety of uses, from treating excessive sweating, particularly excessive underarm sweating, to reducing the frequency of migraines. It can also treat a variety of muscle spasms, overactive bladder, and dystonia.
Now that you know the full story about Botox, are you ready to consider trying to treat wrinkles? To learn more about the treatment, it’s costs, and to see if you’re a good candidate, cal 281-810-9083 to schedule a consultation at Mirror Mirror Beauty Boutique in Houston, Texas, today.