If you’ve never heard of Botox, it’s safe to say that you may have been living under a rock for the past several years. If you have but you’ve never experienced all of its benefits, you may not know exactly how it works or what it does. At Blue Illusion Beauty, with locations in San Diego, Murrieta, and Carlsbad, CA, we offer this popular injectable to help combat the aging process, prevent lines and wrinkles, and help increase your confidence.
What Exactly Does Botox Do?
Botox is a wrinkle relaxing injectable. It helps smooth lines and wrinkles in a quick, effective, and safe cosmetic treatment process. It relaxes the muscles responsible for creating dynamic wrinkles on the upper half of your face. It contains a purified protein called botulinum type A that blocks the communication line between the nerve signals, muscles, and brain. When your brain tells your muscles to contract, they do, and the skin is forced into expressions.
Smoothing Dynamic Wrinkles
These movements don’t affect your appearance when you’re younger, but they do as you age and expression lines result. When your skin loses elasticity, it doesn’t respond as well to all of those dynamic movements throughout the day, and lines and wrinkles start to form. By relaxing the muscles, the ingredients in Botox block the communication between the nerve signals and the muscle so that they don’t contract.
While you still will be able to express, your expressions will be far more subtle, and your skin can rest from constant movement. Once your skin gets the chance to rest, lines and wrinkles will gradually fade within several weeks of your initial injection. Many patients experience the complete disappearance of their lines and wrinkles.
What Can It Treat?
Botox provides an effective way to combat expression lines on the upper half of the face. Any lines and wrinkles that form from muscular movements can be smoothed with this injectable. It is FDA-approved to smooth the wrinkles that form and at the outer corners of the eyes, known as crow’s feet, as well as forehead lines and frown lines.
The lines that have been formed from years of squinting, eyebrow-raising, laughing, smiling, and frowning can all be affectively eliminated thanks to this popular cosmetic injectable.
Off-Label Uses
Skilled injectors have begun to perform Botox injections in off-label ways to help treat different concerns. It has been used to smooth vertical lines that form around the mouth and the lips. It also can help treat those wrinkles that form as vertical lines on the neck.
Preventing Wrinkles
Many younger patients are choosing to add this injectable to their beauty routine as a preventative measure. Those who notice the slightest sign of a wrinkle or crease on their faces are turning to this injectable to take preventative steps to help combat aging before their lines and wrinkles become more severe. Those who want to delay the onset of wrinkles can make this injectable a part of their anti-aging routine.
Medical Uses
Not only does this cosmetic injectable have cosmetic uses, but it’s also become a popular solution in the medical world and is used to treat certain ailments, symptoms, and health conditions. It can help relieve the symptoms associated with hyperhidrosis, which is a condition in which individuals produce an excessive amount of sweat beneath their armpits.
Additionally, it can help ease TMJ symptoms, help reduce the total number of migraines individuals experience on a monthly basis and treat lazy eye, muscle spasms, and muscle disorders in both adults and children.
What Happens During the Treatment Process
The Botox injection process is quick and virtually painless. Once you come in for your appointment, we will prepare your skin for treatment and then make quick injections in your planned treatment areas. This injectable has a very thin needle, so thin that you will barely feel it. For those who want added comfort or are nervous about needles, we can apply a topical numbing solution to help enhance your experience and help relieve any anxiety.
The entire treatment takes 10 to 15 minutes to complete. You can treat multiple areas during your treatment and even combine treatments and receive filler injections during the same appointment. We will discuss all of your concerns at your consultation and create a comprehensive treatment plan to help you reach your aesthetic goals in one appointment, if possible.
What to Expect
Dermal fillers are cosmetic injectables that provide immediate results, but Botox results take a little longer to appear. The ingredients in this injectable need a little time to kick in to relax the muscles. For that reason, visible results may take a few days to appear. The full effect of this treatment is usually apparent within five to ten days of your injection process.
Results will vary based on your skin, your body’s response to the injectable, and your specific treatment area. However, know that you will get results, and you will see an improvement in your lines and wrinkles.
How Long Will Results Last?
Results typically last anywhere from four to six months. Some patients schedule additional treatments two to three weeks after their first injection to help achieve their aesthetic goals. Your results will last as long as it takes for your body to metabolize ingredients in the injectable. Results are long-lasting, but they are also temporary. At any point, you can stop and resume treatment as needed.
You can maintain results as long as you schedule follow-up appointments every few months or as soon as you begin to notice a change in your appearance. Women who are planning to become pregnant or who are currently pregnant can easily stop treatment and resume them once they get the go-ahead from their primary care physician.
Post-Treatment Directives
As soon as your appointment is over, you’ll be free to go about your day. We will ask you to avoid laying down for at least four hours post-treatment, avoid touching your treatment sites, and avoiding strenuous activity and environments that raise your body temperature.
Our injector will provide you with a complete list of aftercare directives so that you know exactly how to care for your skin in the days following your treatments and so that you can achieve optimal results. As long as you follow these directives, you can ensure natural and beautiful results that will help smooth your lines and wrinkles and improve your appearance.
Is It Right for Me?
Choosing to begin treatment with a cosmetic injectable is a personal decision. Patients don’t always choose this injectable for the same reason, but they are extremely satisfied with their results regardless of why they choose it.
Whether you want to treat lines and wrinkles on the upper half of your face or have other aesthetic concerns, we can determine whether this injectable is the right choice for you. Our expert injector is skilled in facial anatomy and will help create the right treatment plan for your unique needs.
Schedule Your Treatment
This treatment provides patients from all walks of life with different aesthetic concerns the opportunity to smooth lines and wrinkles in a safe and effective treatment. You will get natural-looking results that make you look more youthful and well-rested. Contact us today at one of our Blue Illusion Beauty locations in San Diego, Murrieta, and Carlsbad, CA, to schedule your consultation to learn more about Botox, the original cosmetic injectable.