Botox relaxes muscles that cause facial wrinkles. Areas commonly targeted include furrows between the eyes, forehead lines and crows feet around the eyes. It is helpful for wrinkles that form due to muscle motion of the face. Botox can also be used to change the brow position of the face. Over time, regular treatment with Botox can decrease the bulkiness of the facial muscles that are treated. The effects last 3 to 6 months.
Fillers such as Juvederm or Restylane offer a nonsurgical option that softens lines and facial wrinkles by adding volume. Common areas for injections include laugh lines, marionette lines, small lines around the mouth, and lips. Avoiding medications that block clotting, aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs and Vitamin E for one week prior to your appointment can decrease the risk of bruising. The safety of these injectable treatments have not been established in pregnant or breastfeeding women. Effects can last 6 to 12 months.
Frequently Asked Questions
I have a stubborn frown line between my eyebrows. What can I do about this?
Botox works well for dynamic wrinkles whereas fillers like Juvederm work better for static wrinkles. This means that if you have a wrinkle that is there even when you are not frowning, then a filler like juvederm would be needed to smooth out that line. If you have a wrinkle that appears really when you frown or raise your eyebrows, then Botox would work best to address this.
I don't like the lines around my mouth, but I am afraid of having overly swollen lips after Juvederm. What should I do?
It is important to choose the right doctor to treat your face. If you have too much filler injected into your face, lips start to look swollen and lose their gentle three dimensional curvature. Fillers can be helpful to correct shadowing and hollowing, but sometimes less is definitely more.
What is the liquid browlift?
Eyebrows are aesthetically important to frame the eyes and open up the face. The ideal eyebrow shape includes a gentle arch up laterally. If you draw a vertical line on the outer edge of your pupil (the colored portion of your eyeball), the peak of the arch should be at this line. For some women, eyebrow hairs can be trimmed and plucked to achieve this look. For others, botox injection that targets the muscle which pulls your eyebrow down can be helpful.
There are two muscles, the frontalis (forehead muscle) and the orbicularis oculi (eyelid muscle), that play tug-of-war on your lateral eyebrows. By blocking the pull of the eyelid muscle with botox, you allow the forehead muscle to pull your lateral brow up.
