Facial aging happens to all of us, resulting from exposure to the sun, pollution, and stress. To combat this problem, many aesthetic treatments have been developed to help with facial aging, such as wrinkles and fine lines. One example of a tried and tested treatment for facial aging is Botox.
Most aestheticians and doctors alike would recommend Botox the first thing when asked about solving wrinkles. Botox has been recommended so many times that it has become a household name essentially. It’s now a buzzword among the cosmetic community since it’s cheap, effective, and easy to get.
So what is Botox? Why is it almost always recommended when seeking to solve your wrinkle problems? We will discuss all Botox to help you know better if the treatment is worth the hype or not.
What Is Botox?
Botox is a formula derived from the protein botulinum toxin produced by bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. If you’ve heard of botulism before, a type of paralysis resulting from food poisoning, you may hear that it can be fatal, and yes, this is the very same toxin that causes it. While it is a toxin, researchers worldwide have found many applications for it.
Medical Applications
While Botox is widely known as an aesthetic treatment, its usefulness doesn’t stop there. In fact, quite the opposite, Botox was actually to be intended for medical purposes instead of focusing solely on aesthetics.
Doctors frequently turn to Botox for health conditions such as overactive bladder, hyperhidrosis, strabismus, cervical dystonia, and blepharospasm. Also, Botox is now widely used against migraine; it can make the pain caused by migraine less painful and reduce the frequency of migraines.
Many reports show that botox on migraine can decrease pain by around 30%.
Aesthetic Applications
As for aesthetic treatments, what can Botox do for you? Quite a lot, actually.
When Botox is applied in specific areas, it can reduce the contraction of wrinkles on your forehead and the fine lines near your eyebrows. They are also effective in dealing with crow’s feet and crinkles on the nose, and Botox can help lift your eyebrows to a certain extent.
Botox is also effective in correcting gummy smiles, lifting the corners of the mouth, improving skin dimpling, and softening a square jawline.
Several products also use botulinum toxin formula, acting very similarly to Botox, including Dysport. While they may have the same key ingredient, note that you should not use them interchangeably. The slight differences in the formula can do a lot of change, so ask your provider first if you need Botox or Dysport—their expertise should help you.
How Does Botox Work?
Botos uses the botulinum toxin, one of the many forms of neurotoxins that exist. Neurotoxins are toxic substances that can harm humans’ brains and nervous systems. They harm it by disrupting the communication between the body and the brain, which ceases bodily functions since the brain isn’t commanding it anymore.
The nervous system is the connection landline between the brain and the body. If there’s a command from the brain, a message is sent through the nervous system and reaches the intended body part. It travels through your nerves until it reaches the junction where the two body parts meet.
The message is sent through a chemical called acetylcholine. Once acetylcholine reaches its destination, it attaches itself to the nerves of the body part, receiving the command and doing it.
Whenever you use a neurotoxin, you disrupt that communication by halting the release of the chemical acetylcholine. Now that there’s no communication between the body and brain, paralysis occurs.
How Does Botulinum Toxin Apply To Aesthetics?
So why use a neurotoxin that could cause paralysis as an aesthetic treatment? Botulinum toxin is explicitly used for its paralytic properties, and here is why.
Our facial muscles are used almost 24/7, giving no rest, and they ultimately will wear themselves out. These muscles are not like your muscles like your arms or legs, where you can rest them on a couch. Facial muscles are constantly moving, especially when making a facial expression.
Since they permanently move, they are bound to get damaged through a lifetime of use. Facial muscles will start to contract, and they will begin to entangle themselves from each other, paving the way for more wrinkles to develop. Wrinkles make us look exhausted, tired, or frustrated even though we really are not.
To stop these muscles from moving when you want to, you need to apply something that can stop them from moving. This is when botulinum toxin can do its paralytic properties. So now that the muscles have stopped moving too much, this will significantly reduce wrinkles since they are now relaxed and have untangled themselves.
Find The Right Provider
An expert aesthetician can correctly balance aesthetics and effectiveness when applying Botox. Too much Botox, and you’ll find your face being paralyzed all over, it’s too stiff, and your face looks frozen. You can’t make any expression at all.
On the other hand, many wrinkles will still be there if it’s less. Find the right provider who can properly set a balance. Check before and after photos of their previous clients and check some reviews of their profiles. See if their previous clients were satisfied with their appearance or not.
How Happens During A Botox Procedure?
A Botox cosmetic procedure can take as little as 30 minutes or up to an hour and a half. It depends from client to client, and you might need more or less Botox, so it depends on how many wrinkles you have.
The procedure is painless, and it will only take several injections in the wrinkles affected areas. It isn’t painful, but you can ask your provider to apply some numbing cream to minimize pain if you are uncomfortable with injections.
Once the injections are done, you are good to go. Just continue to follow the aftercare instructions from your provider, and you should be good.
Takeaway
If you are interested in Botox treatment, contact our clinic, OC Cosmetic, and Vein. Center. We offer Services that help our clients achieve their aesthetic goals.
