Life causes wrinkles — there’s no way around it. While behaviors like moisturizing, minimizing sun exposure, and avoiding smoking can keep your skin looking youthful, wrinkles are inevitable, sooner or later. Your skin wrinkles over time due to an increase in facial muscle tone and a decrease in collagen. Wrinkles tend to form on your brow, eye, chin, and jaw areas.
Some people are happy to live with their wrinkles, but an increasingly large range of cosmetic procedures are available today to reduce the appearance of unwanted wrinkles and rejuvenate your skin. Botox®️ treatment — the injection of botulinum toxin — is still one of the most effective nonsurgical techniques to diminish wrinkles, particularly in your face, where signs of age are most visible.
What is Botox?
Botox is based on botulinum toxin, the same bacterium that causes botulism food poisoning. It has a number of medical uses in addition to use in cosmetic procedures. A vial of cosmetic Botox typically contains a mixture of botulinum toxin type A (the active ingredient), human albumin, and sodium chloride.
Injected into the skin, Botox treatment blocks the nerve impulses that cause facial muscle contractions. This works to relax your muscles and skin to reduce the appearance of facial wrinkles.
What kinds of wrinkles can Botox treat?
Botox injections can only reduce wrinkles in the parts of the face that move, called dynamic wrinkles. Botox does not help with static wrinkles — those that remain present even when your face is relaxed. These may need dermal fillers in addition to Botox treatments.
Botox is effective in treating:
- Glabellar lines: wrinkles located in the area above your nose and between your eyebrows
- Crow’s feet: wrinkles branching out from the corners of your eyes, especially when you smile
- Forehead wrinkles: formed by repeatedly raising the large frontalis muscle that overlies your forehead
- Bunny lines: wrinkles on the bridge of your nose
- Lipstick lines (also called perioral lines): vertical wrinkles that form above your upper lip due to factors such as photoaging, genetics, puckering, and smoking
It’s important to note that a single treatment of Botox won’t smooth away your wrinkles forever. One treatment lasts about 3-6 months, and then your muscle responsiveness increases again. An advantage of Botox is that you can schedule regular touch-up treatments to maintain facial smoothness.
Is Botox the best solution for you?
With so many different treatments available today, Botox remains among the most popular procedures for reducing the appearance of unwanted wrinkles. Botox may cause adverse reactions, including swelling, so it’s best to seek treatment from an experienced professional. It’s safe to use cosmetically, and it won’t permanently alter your skin.
The US Food and Drug Administration recommends Botox for people age 65 and younger. Most people who use Botox to treat unwanted wrinkles are pleased with the results they see, and many find that they repeat the treatments as part of their regular cosmetic routine.
Conveniently located in Beverly Hills, California, Dr. Joel Aronowitz features Botox among a wide array of cosmetic procedures. Serving patients from around the Los Angeles, California area for 30 years, Dr. Aronowitz can advise you on how best to deal with your unwanted wrinkles and answer any questions you may have about trying Botox.
We’re happy to set up a consultation to discuss your Botox options or to schedule an appointment for a Botox treatment. Call our office, or request an appointment online today.