You’ve probably heard the word “botox” tossed around a lot, but do you really know what it is and what the typical botox procedure entails?
Botox often gets hailed as a miracle wrinkle cure, tightening up those troublesome “frown lines” that come with aging. Your parents may have referred to them as crow’s feet, but the fact remains that they’re a perfectly natural part of aging. It just so happens that we have a way of reversing the process that causes them.
By injecting botox, a derivative of botulism, into the muscle that created the wrinkle in the first place, the muscle weakens, causing the skin to relax and letting the wrinkle naturally fade away as the skin softens. The most frequently treated areas are the deep wrinkles commonly found between the eyebrows as well as horizontal forehead lines and the aforementioned crow’s feet.
Botox does not affect your nerve at all, meaning that there’s no numbness or risk of damage to your nervous system, and the muscles related to your other facial expressions will not be affected.
The effects of a botox injection typically last anywhere from 3-5 months, after which another injection is required to keep those crow’s feet from coming back. The treatment is very simple and takes just a few minutes, so it can be done conveniently in our office whenever you have some spare time.
Some patients can see the positive effects of a botox injection as soon as 24 hours after the procedure.
After you’ve received multiple treatments, sometimes the effect of a botox injection lasts longer, perhaps even 6-8 months, but you won’t ever have a permanent solution to the effects of aging.
While botox injections have only been occurring for cosmetic reasons for just over five years, they appear to be very safe, with the most severe side effects being either a drooping of the eyelid or a bit of double vision. Both of these side effects result from weakening muscles around the eye and dissipate within a couple of weeks. Of course, as with any such procedure, you’ll want to discuss this with a doctor first.
