Botox for Cosmetic Uses
What is Botox:
Botox, commonly used both medically and cosmetically, comes from a protein derived from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is the very same toxin responsible for Botulism. The bacterium – (C. botulinum) is common in soil, where it can survive as a resistant
Botox is a trade name for a medicine made from a highly toxic bacterium – botulinum toxin, a neurotoxic protein produced by Clostridium botulinum. Though that may sound scary initially, Botox is a drug doctors have been using safely for decades. Botox is employed in a host of treatments, some FDA-approved and others not for medical and cosmetic therapies.
Botulinum toxin “type A” (Botox) is manufactured and marketed by different pharmaceutical companies under various trade names – Botox Cosmetic, Jeuveau, Xeomin, Daxxify, and Dysport. Trade names may vary, but they all share the same active ingredient, botulinum toxin, and essentially perform the same function.
Click the link to learn more: Is Botox Right for You.
What is a Botox Brow Lift?
A Botox brow lift is a non-invasive, temporary, simple alternative to more dramatic surgical brow lifts. The procedure can help minimally lift the brow while softening the forehead, smoothing glabellar lines and wrinkles, and promoting a youthful appearance.
How do Botox Brow Lifts Work?
Botox injections are employed to create similar results as a Surgical Brow Lift. Botox paralyzes the muscles that pull the brow downwards with muscle contraction. The treatment allows the forehead to relax, elevating the brow and producing a more youthful, rested appearance.
Botulinum toxin always works the same way, producing temporary muscle paralysis. When carefully injected into specific problem muscles around the eyebrows (in this case with a brow lift), the paralysis smooths the forehead, elevating the eyebrows and making a patient’s eyes appear more open, youthful, and rested.
How Much Can Botox Lift the Eyebrows?
Botox lifts are much more subtle than surgical procedures. A Surgical Brow Lift is an extensive forehead procedure that is invasive and radical. You will also have dramatic, permanent changes and require significant recovery time. Botox is a non-invasive, temporary, simple procedure producing less dramatic subtle improvements with one to three millimeters of lift. However, even these tiny changes can minimize the visual appearance of aging, opening the eye, smoothing brow wrinkles, and producing a more youthful appearance.
Botox Brow Lift Benefits vs. Surgical Brow Lifts
Botox is the preferred method for subtle, non-radical improvement. It is a far less invasive, non-permanent, quick recovery, affordable alternative. Treatments vary considerably in range and scope. Botox is a simple, painless, in-and-out, 20-minute treatment with no downtime, and if you are not happy with the results, Botox will wear off in 3-6 months. Surgery is significantly different.
A Surgical Browlift is a serious medical procedure. There will be several weeks of recovery time, pain, and risks involved, and you’ll be stuck with the results, whether you like them or not, for the next decade or more.
Botox Lift Benefits:
- Quick – 20 minutes or so. Do it on a lunch break.
- Recovery – you can resume most normal activities immediately.
- Pain – Minimal during the procedure; generally, no pain after that.
- Cost – Far less expensive than plastic surgery
Will a Browlift Procedure Make You Look Younger?
Yes, it can. Brow Lifts are one of the most common treatments in the cosmetic enhancement industry. No doubt, it is a Hollywood staple. Botox (properly administered) can leave you with fewer wrinkles, a smoother, lifted brow line, and a more youthful, refreshed appearance. Arresting the heavy muscle contractions involved in creating the lines and wrinkles of the brow is a preventative treatment against the formation of deeper permanent wrinkle lines and creases.
What’s the Downside of a Botox Brow Lift?
The downside to the treatment is that you will need repeated maintenance treatments to keep your results fresh. Botulinum Toxin produces a temporary paralysis that, over time, wears off. When it does, muscle contractions again return to normal, and so will your lines, wrinkles, and lowered brow. It is necessary to repeat injections to maintain your appearance long-term.
Botox presents few risks in the hands of qualified, experienced doctors and trained professionals. More than 6 million people a year receive Botox treatments, and the incidence of reported side effects is minimal. However, side effects with the medicine are possible.
What Should You Expect During the Procedure?
Botox treatments involve small, generally pain-free injections into specific muscles around your brows and forehead. Treatment is an in-and-out quick office visit that lasts up to 20 minutes.
What Should You Expect After the Procedure?
You can return to most activities right away but avoid strenuous activities. Are you scheduled for the gym? Skip it for a few days of rest instead. After a few days, you should be able to return to all your normal activities.
There is usually little to no recovery. You may have some redness and tenderness around injection sites. These symptoms are typical and should pass in a day or two. Mild bruising may also appear depending on the individual and is also standard. It will clear up in a few days.
If you don’t see results from your injections right away, it’s normal. It doesn’t mean the treatment isn’t working. Give the medication 5-7 days to take effect, especially if you are a first-time patient. Schedule an appointment if you still haven’t seen the expected results within two weeks. You may need a repeat treatment.
Like all medications, results can vary with individuals and with how often you have received the medication before. Some patients will need more injections to obtain the desired results, some will have delayed results, and others more immediate. Be patient and give the medication time to work before you call or start to worry.
Are There Any Risks with Botox Brow Lifts?
When side-effects occur with Botox, they vary depending on the treatment, where injected, how much medicine, the condition treated, patient’s medical history, medications, and other variables.
- Injection site reactions are the most common side effects. Localized pain, bruising, and skin color changes (redness) around the injection site can happen. These symptoms show up shortly after treatments and should go away quickly.
- Headaches are another of the most encountered side effects. They are usually not severe and tend to disappear a few days post-treatment.
Botox Forehead treatments present their own unique set of side effects. Especially if the medicine leaks and migrates to the eye or nearby muscle groups.
3. Drooping Eyelid — (blepharoptosis) affects up to 20% of people who receive injections in the forehead. Symptom onset 1- 3 weeks following treatment, almost always temporary, wearing off in a few weeks.
- Drooping Eyebrow – (ptosis) Side Effect affects only one eye and is nearly always temporary, resolving in four weeks or less.
5. Spreading of Botox – Botulinum toxin spreads beyond the primary injection site and may cause other problems.
Who Should Not Get Botox Cosmetic Treatments
You should not take Botox if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or if you suffer from any of the following conditions:
- Weak facial muscles
- You are currently ill
- Neuromuscular disease
- Drooping eyelids (ptosis)
- Certain Neurological disorders
- Trouble with breathing or swallowing
- You are taking immunosuppressant drugs
As always, you should consult with your physician first, discuss your medical history any medications you are taking, and review any concerns before deciding if Botox is appropriate.
- Botox Brow Lift
- Botox Lips
- Botox under eyes
- Chin Botox
- Botox for Smile Lines
- Crow’s Feet Botox
- Botox for Forhead Wrinkles
- Neck Botox
- Botox for Marionette Lines
How Long Does a Botox Brow Lift Last?
The Botox Brow lift procedure results are not permanent. They are effective for three to four months, most commonly. Some people may enjoy as much as six months of longevity from their treatments, but it is rare. After this period, you will need maintenance injections as the medicine wears off to maintain your results. Your metabolism, genetic makeup, muscle activity, and how many treatments you’ve had before can all affect the effective treatment window. Consult with your provider for more information.
How Quickly Will You See Results?
5 – 10 days are standard for initial effects to kick in and begin fully working. Others will see results sooner. However, if you still aren’t seeing the results you expected after two weeks, call your provider for a consultation.
Is Cosmetic Botox Treatment Right for You?
Are you a Good Candidate for a Brow Lift?
Suppose you suffer from mild, moderate, or even severe frown lines between the eyebrows, sagging skin around the eyes from a falling brow, forehead creases, etc. In that case, you may be a good candidate for a Botox Brow Lift.
If years of smiling, frowning, squinting, laughing, and crying are starting to appear on your complexion permanently, now might be the right time to consider Botox. Many younger clients are thinking of Botox treatment the same way many may think of sunscreen as a logical preventative treatment for future aging. By addressing problems now by treating muscle contractions that lead to developing deep lines, creases, and wrinkles later, they are avoiding more significant problems in the future.
Even aging clients with advanced lines, wrinkles, and deep creases shouldn’t rule out this as a therapy. Botox is not a filler (It does not “fill in” problem areas). Still, Botox does stop the muscle contractions that cause wrinkles, lines, and creases to appear and develop. Botox with dermal fillers can be just the right combination to fill problem areas (ones already created), keep them from reappearing under muscle contraction, and arrest future development.
If you are in reasonably good health and not pregnant, call for a consultation today to see if Botox is right for you. We can address your problems and concerns, answer all your questions, and develop a unique beauty strategy that suits you.
Is a Botox Brow Lift right for you?
Only you can decide if a Brow Lift with Botox suits you. With that said, the procedure is quick, easy, and, for the most part, painless (you may feel slight stinging during injection). It is a non-invasive procedure. There is no downtime for recovery. And it is far more economical in time and money than Plastic Surgery. If you are unhappy with the results, let the effects wear off and move on. With Botox, you won’t be stuck with the results for the next decade.
The treatment is most popular with Men and Women ages 30 to 50, but that doesn’t rule out older clients with pre-existing, even advanced problems or younger 20–30-year-olds looking to protect and preserve what they’ve got. Age is of little consideration as there is no right or wrong age for a brow lift, provided you can benefit.
Consider treatment whenever you become unhappy with your current appearance, or as some do, if you have problem areas that are likely to bring problems in the future (preventative care). Indeed, even those patients in advanced years who, for health reasons, would not be suitable candidates for plastic surgery can get Botox treatment safely.
If you are looking for the Best Botox in Walnut Creek area, call us today at 925-391-9439. Our friendly staff will happily book your consultation.