What is BOTOX® Cosmetic?
You’ve heard of BOTOX® Cosmetic, but did you know how it works? BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments target certain muscles in the facial area, depending on which wrinkles the client wants treated, and relaxes those muscles. The procedure done by the skilled professionals at Pacific Palisades Plastic Surgery, significantly reduces the appearance of brow furrows, forehead lines, crow’s feet, and frown lines. And surprise, surprise — BOTOX® Cosmetic can even stop underarm sweat!
BOTOX® Cosmetic Procedure
Clostridium Botulinum has many different types. They are rod-shaped bacteria that is found in the soil. Types A, B, E, and F, are toxic types and have been found to cause illness in humans. Type B and C have been found to create illnesses in animals.
BOTOX® Cosmetic is a medicinal agent that comes from the bacterium, Clostridium Botulinum. It is Botulinum Toxin Type A. The BOTOX® brand is produced in a laboratory under controlled conditions. The medicinal doses were first discovered to help with eye spasms and misalignments of the eye. BOTOX® Cosmetic is a Purified Neurotoxin Complex. It is vacuum-dried to form a pure toxin type A. Type A can be used for overactive muscle activity.
The dosage is very important. The vials must be stored in an office at -5 degrees F. Each Botox vial contains 100u of the product that is freeze-dried. Normal saline helps to reconstitute the BOTOX® Cosmetic. Usually, 2 to 4cc of saline is used to reconstitute the Botox. To receive the best results, the BOTOX® Cosmetic should be used within 4 hours after the reconstitution process.
BOTOX® Cosmetic Usage
BOTOX® Cosmetic has many different uses other than the original eye spasms and misalignment of the eyes. The product is also used for many cosmetic applications as well. Both men and women take advantage of BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments. The FDA has approved Botox for many cosmetic uses. It softens the fine lines and shallow wrinkles that are between the brows that are caused by people frowning a lot. When a patient is having the space between their eyebrows done, it is done with 25u. BOTOX® Cosmetic can also help with migraines. BOTOX® Cosmetic is extremely effective in the areas around the mouth, forehead, and around the eyes.
These expression areas develop fine and deeper lines and Botox can help lessen the severity of the lines. In many cases, the lines will disappear completely for several months. Botox is also used by many people to prevent wrinkles from starting. They will start getting the BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments before the wrinkles start to show on their face. The Botox will keep you from making certain facial gestures that cause the wrinkles.
How BOTOX® Cosmetic Works
Your brain normally will tell your muscles how to move by sending electrical messages to the muscles. Acetylcholine is the substance that the electrical message transfers to your muscles. BOTOX® Cosmetic will block the release of acetylcholine so your muscles do not receive the message to wrinkle up. After BOTOX® Cosmetic, the movements that are causing your wrinkles and your muscle spasms will be reduced or even stopped. Many people feel that the BOTOX® Cosmetic injections temporarily paralyze the areas where they have had the treatments.
BOTOX® Cosmetic injections can also help patients who have intense sweating. The areas that a person sweats profusely, like, under the arms, palms of their hands and the backs of the knees can be injected with BOTOX® Cosmetic to stop or slow down the sweating. The Botox will block the acetylcholine from being released around the sweat glands that are causing extreme sweating.
Areas That BOTOX® Cosmetic Can Be Injected
- The Frontalis Muscle, forehead lines. An acceptable amount would be a 5 to a 25u. The injections would be placed in the horizontal lines, the ones that look like pleats, about every 1 ½ to 2 cm apart. They should be placed high enough so the brow does not droop.
- Frown Lines or Glabella. This involves the Procerus and Corrugator Supercilii muscles. The Supercilii muscle is the forehead skin that is near the eyebrow. An acceptable injection amount would be 20 to 25u. About four or five injections are usually given. The corrugator muscles would get 2 to 2.5u, and the procerus would receive 2.5u. The injections should not go past the brow middle or procerus above the pupil. If injections go past the suggested areas, it could lead to the brow drooping.
- Crows Feet; these are the lateral orbital lines. The muscles involved are the Procerus and the Orbicularis Oculi. The acceptable amount would be 5 to 15u per injection. Each pleat that is injected should get 2.5u and the injector should avoid getting too close to the eyelids. This could cause the eyelids to droop.
- Bunny Line or Transverse nasal. These lines will take 5 to 25u of Botox.
- Peri-oral Line or Smoker’s Lines. Injections would be 5u per line.
- Mentalis Dysfunction or Chin Dents. The chin would receive 20u of BOTOX® Cosmetic in different spots of the chin. This will relax the mentalis muscle and give the chin a more contoured look.
- Vertical Platysma Bands or Platysma Muscle. Your BOTOX® Cosmetic Los Angeles physician will know the amount of BOTOX® Cosmetic needed for this procedure.
- Brow Lift; BOTOX® Cosmetic injections above the brow will create a lifting effect. The injector should be skilled in this area in order to avoid the brow from drooping.
Patients who have wrinkles around the mouth, you may want to talk to our BOTOX® Cosmetic Los Angeles surgeon about chemical peels and laser treatments.
What you Can Expect at Your Appointment
The BOTOX® Cosmetic injections are done with a micro-needle and injected into your muscles or into the areas that you require individual treatments. Most individuals complain about the wrinkles and lines around the outer eyes and the corrugated lines on their forehead. For each of these areas, one to three injections is used per muscle in these areas. Most patients say there is little discomfort or pain that they feel with BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. This is because the micro-needle that is used for BOTOX® Cosmetic injections is very tiny. Some patients may feel a little burning, sting or a little pressure, but most do not feel anything at all.
One piece of advice to women is, if you are close to or on your menstrual cycle, you may feel more pain. This is due to the fact that your senses are heightened during your menstrual period. You may want to schedule your appointment for a week or two after your cycle is done, so you do not feel the discomfort.
After your treatment is over, it will take about threes days for the full effects of the BOTOX® Cosmetic to be seen. Some doctors will have their patients limit the number of muscle movements for a day or so until the BOTOX® Cosmetic has a chance to settle into the areas that have been treated and some will tell you to frown to settle the Botox. Ask your doctor for the proper instructions so you get the greatest benefits from your BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. You will also be instructed not to bend over or lie down for the first four hours after your treatments.
Patients will see the maximum benefit of their BOTOX® Cosmetic injections in one to two weeks. The effects of your injections will diminish gradually and you will see the movement of the injected areas. Some patients like to be re-injected in six months and some would rather do it earlier, in about four months or so. Ask your doctor which is best for your body.
How Long does BOTOX® Cosmetic Last?
BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments will last about three months from one treatment. It will smooth out your skin and take away the fine lines and soften your wrinkles in the areas where you were treated. You will notice a slight fading of the BOTOX® Cosmetic when it begins to wear off. At this point, you may want to make another appointment. BOTOX® Cosmetic is a proven method for removing wrinkles and superficial line. Patients see how the lines on the forehead and around the mouth, eyes, and chin will disappear during treatment. The skin becomes smooth again.
Risks, Difficulties, and Contraindications
BOTOX® Cosmetic gives individuals continued relief, dose after dose. There are no long-term effects and BOTOX® Cosmetic can be repeated indefinitely with no concerns or bad effects. Women who are pregnant or taking medication should not receive treatments of BOTOX® Cosmetic. Anyone taking antibiotics should also stay away from BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments. Tell your doctor what medication you are taking before having BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments.
Some people may get headaches, but they are temporary. Individuals have also gotten hematomas, which is a lot of blood that may form in an organ, a tissue, or body space because of a broken blood vessel. There have also been cases of ectropion, which is the turning out of a part of the eyelid or diplopia, which is a vision problem that causes two images of a single object. This is caused because of an unequal action of the eye muscles. It is also known as double vision, short-term eyelid drooping and bruising.
Individuals also have concerns about getting botulism. Some serious cases have been reported because people have used non-approved forms of the paralytic. Make sure your doctor is using an FDA-regulated brand.
Others have concerns about droopiness or paralysis of the eyelids. If you experience droopiness of the eyelid you can use lopidine 0.5% drops to help. Talk to your doctor about the accidental leaching of BOTOX® Cosmetic into other muscles before getting your injections. Some doctors will use localized injections of antibiotics to help with droopiness of the eyelids or paralysis.
Make sure you tell your doctor about any weakness in muscle controls that you may have. The doctor should know if you have cardiac arrhythmia, bronchospasm or any other weak muscles if you are going to be given neostigmine.
Anyone taking strong antibiotics like Cipro, Clindamycin or Levaquin will not get the same long term results out of their BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. It may be better to wait until you are not taking your antibiotic or other prescribed medications before having BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. Your doctors should also know if you are taking aminoglycoside antibiotics because it may cause BOTOX® Cosmetic injections to be stronger.
Quick Review of Facts
First of all, always have a surgeon, physician or dermatologist give you your BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. Never get BOTOX® Cosmetic injections in a salon by non-medical personnel. Make sure if you go to a house party for BOTOX® Cosmetic injections that there is a physician doing the injections and that the Botox that is used is an FDA-approved brand. Non approved Botulinum Toxins have been linked to cases of permanent damage, botulism, and death.
Bruising is rare and you may get mild swelling. You may have some mild headaches for a week or so and you may have felt some stinging, pressure or burning during your treatment. This is normal. Some people feel numbness, but that is rare. The injection session last about 30 minutes and after the treatments you will see the effects of your BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments in a few hours or up to three days.
You may be told to squint and frown regularly to help the BOTOX® Cosmetic settle in. Many have said that it helps a lot to make the BOTOX® Cosmetic work faster. Make sure to ask your physician for specific instructions after your BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments. Remember not to lay down or bend over for at least 4 hours after your treatments.
Be careful with your activities for a few days after your BOTOX® Cosmetic injections. It will take a few days for the Botox to settle in. Wear sunblock if you are going out in the sun. Sun will cause bruising to linger longer and may cause the development of hyperpigmentation in the areas that you have been treated.
A single treatment of BOTOX® Cosmetic will last three months. You will have smoother skin and those superficial wrinkles and fine lines will be mostly gone. When the effects start wearing off, you will notice a fading of the effects of your BOTOX® Cosmetic treatments. This is when you will want to call for another appointment for another treatment.