What is Botox?
Botox injections reduce or eliminate moderate to severe wrinkles using highly purified botulinum toxin. It’s also used to treat health conditions like hyperhidrosis, or severe underarm sweating.
What types of wrinkles are treated by Botox?
As you get older, your face develops two types of wrinkles. Dynamic wrinkles are caused by repetitive muscle movements, such as squinting and frowning. The second type, static wrinkles, develop from the effect of sun damage, gravity, and the loss of collagen and elastin.
Botox treats dynamic wrinkles such as:
- Crow’s feet
- Forehead furrows
- Frown lines
- Lip lines
- Bunny lines (top and sides of nose)
- Neck bands
- Chin pucker “peau d’orange” condition
- Gummy smiles
- And so much more
What other health conditions are treated with Botox?
Botox injections are used to effectively treat:
- Hyperhidrosis (excess sweating)
- Chronic migraines
- Eye twitches
Botox helps to relax calf muscles when it’s used for lower limb spasticity, and it also shows promise for alleviating symptoms caused by depression.
How does Botox really work?
Botox is a purified protein derived from botulinum toxin. When injected, Botox migrates to the nerve synapses and weakens or stops signals from the brain that tell the muscles to move. Botox doesn’t enter the muscle, but simply blocks the nerve signals from getting to the muscle. As a result, the muscle relaxes and stops contracting. While the muscle is in a relaxed state, the skin over the muscle has a smoother appearance. Botox diminishes or eliminates any wrinkles associated with movement in the targeted muscles.
What can you expect during a Botox procedure?
Your doctor at MedWeight and Lasers identifies the muscles to inject using electromyography to detect nerve activity, or by marking the muscles that tighten as you use them to make a facial expression. Then Botox is injected using a very thin needle.
Botox treatment usually takes about 15 minutes. The length of your session depends on the extent of wrinkles being treated and the number of injections you need. You may experience a little redness at the injection site, but you can cover the area with makeup before you leave the office.
You need to avoid strenuous activity and be careful not to rub the area for two hours; otherwise, you won’t need any downtime.
How long do Botox results last?
You’ll see results in three to seven days, then the effect lasts three to six months.* As your Botox treatment begins to wear off and dynamic wrinkles reappear, you can get another injection. Results often last longer with repeated injections.
What is hyperhidrosis?
Hyperhidrosis occurs when the nerves responsible for triggering sweat glands become overactive. As a result, you sweat excessively, even when it’s not needed to cool you down.
When your doctor at MedWeight and Lasers injects Botox, the nerves are temporarily blocked, so you don’t sweat. One Botox treatment relieves hyperhidrosis for nearly seven months.*
*Individual results may vary.
