The first visible symptoms of aging facial skin usually include non-set, dynamic wrinkles. These are the crow’s feet and marionette lines that form when facial expressions are made. Thin wrinkle lines show near the corners of the mouth and near the top of the nose bridge. Some individuals also experience wrinkling near the eyes and on the forehead. If this sounds like you, we have good news. BOTOX® injections can smooth away these wrinkle lines without the need for surgical skin repositioning or abrasive resurfacing.
We are your Chicago-area skin care specialists, and we have years of experience treating clients with BOTOX® injections. The procedure is very simple, and the results last for months. Many of our clients choose this cosmetic fix for non-set wrinkles because they feel they aren’t yet ready for any sort of aggressive skin treatment. If you’re unfamiliar with this skin-smoothing procedure but want to learn more, you’ll find the following information quite helpful.
A Purified Protein Serum
BOTOX® is a purified protein serum approved for cosmetic use by the FDA in 2002. Its best-known use is relaxing the muscles in your face. When injected directly into muscle tissue, the fluid settles into the muscle and reaches some of the tissue, acting as a nerve signal blocker. Signals from the brain commanding the muscle to contract don’t get through. It’s the upper-level muscles that control our facial skin movement and allow us to smile, frown, pout, narrow our eyes, purse our lips, and move our forehead skin up and down.
Once the serum begins to block these nerve signals, the muscles stay in a more or less relaxed state. The stronger muscles that lie beneath still pull and pinch the skin, but the skin surface itself isn’t crimped because the subcutaneous tissues that bind the skin to the body aren’t affected by muscle contraction. The result is smoother skin and a reduction in the visibility of fine wrinkles when you smile or frown.
About Dynamic Wrinkles
These are the result of years and years of skin being subjected to the pulling and pinching effect of contracting muscles. As we age, our skin doesn’t retain as much moisture as it once did, and it also contains fewer proteins such as collagen and elastin. This results in skin that’s less taut and supple. It’s more subject to crimping and creasing whenever we smile or make other facial expressions.
Eventually, the wrinkle lines begin to show because of the continuous etching effect. BOTOX® can smooth away these wrinkles because the serum it contains prevents upper-level muscles from fully contracting.
Consultation and Treatment
When we consult with you, we will examine your skin surface and note the areas where dynamic wrinkles are forming. You’ll perform a series of facial expressions that allow us to see the size and strength of the muscles that lie just beneath the skin. Based on these observations, we’ll design a customized treatment that involves injecting the BOTOX® fluid in precisely determined locations.
We can do this right after the consultation. The procedure takes only about 15 minutes to complete. We load the fluid into a syringe or ampule and attach a thin hypodermic needle. The needle punctures are so thin that a topical anesthetic isn’t necessary.
It takes about three days for the effect to become noticeable. Your face won’t go numb, something that you’ve probably heard about. Those stories simply aren’t true. The serum doesn’t affect your sensory nerves that allow you to feel your face. You’ll also be able to make the same facial expressions you did before treatment. The only difference is that when you do make those pouting or smiling expressions, the dynamic wrinkles are now far less visible.
The serum is effective for about four or five months. Eventually, you will notice the smile lines and crow’s feet returning. At that time, you simply come in for a repeat treatment. Each time you do, we’ll use less and less of the fluid. That’s because your upper-level facial muscles are becoming trained to stay in a pretty much relaxed state.
There’s no downtime after treatment. You go about your regular activities without delay. The serum itself is eventually flushed from the body along with other waste, and no residue remains in your system.
Advantages Over Other Treatments
You have lots of choices when it comes to skin rejuvenation. Some of these options may not appeal to you. Chemical peels can bleach the skin, and severe reactions are possible. Abrasive resurfacing can eliminate wrinkles, but it can also bring about a rather dull appearance to the skin surface. Surgical procedure such as a facelift can result in smooth skin, but many individuals balk at the idea of skin repositioning, especially when the idea of sedation, recovery, and undesirable results is considered.
On the other hand, BOTOX® injections don’t treat the skin directly, meaning that the procedure is suitable regardless of skin thickness, skin tone, and skin texture. It’s performed in-house, and when the treatment is completed, there’s no recovery period or downtime.
This cosmetic treatment won’t fix such problems as deep skin sagging or folding, horizontal banding on the neck, or the appearance of stretch marks. When we consult with you, we will discuss other treatment options if these conditions are present. However, we often recommend combining BOTOX® injections with other simple fixes including dermal fillers, localized liposuction, and gentle microdermabrasion.
Relax Those Facial Wrinkles
If you feel you look old and tired when you smile at your friends and family, there’s a simple solution. To learn more about BOTOX® injections and what they can do to reduce the visibility of crow’s feet and smile lines, feel free to reach out and make an appointment with Dundee Dermatology. At our convenient location in Chicago, our caring and devoted team of professionals will be pleased to explain this option to you in full and answer any questions you may have. Contact us today to set up your consultation – we look forward to speaking with you!