What Is Botox Used For?

Botox has come along way in the last 20 years. It’s no longer the new injectable in the beauty world; it’s the go-to injection for the treatment of wrinkles. At the office of Doctor James DeStephens in Gainesville, FL, we offer Botox injections as a way to treat the signs of aging and restore your confidence so that you can stop focusing on your lines and wrinkles and instead, put your time, emotions, and energy into the things in your life that really matter.

Lines and wrinkles not only age the face but can affect your confidence. We offer a trusted solution that delivers effective results. This reputable anti-aging injectable is used world-wide to help temporarily erase the signs of aging and take years off the face with just a few injections.

This neurotoxin has advanced since its initial days on the beauty market over 20 years ago. What was once a treatment that was looked down upon by skeptics of all kinds has become one of, if not the single most widely-used injectable today. Not only can it treat cosmetic concerns, but it has become a solution that many doctors turn to offer help and pain relief to their clients who struggle with a number of different medical conditions.

Treating Cosmetic Concerns

Botox is a cosmetic injectable that has become a go-to in anti-aging medicine. It is used in the cosmetic world to treat the signs of aging by temporarily erasing dynamic wrinkles that form on the forehead, around the eyes, and between the eyebrows. It is a popular injectable that has been used by millions of people around the world to improve their appearance.

Forehead Lines

Forehead lines are one of the most common signs of aging. Some people develop severe forehead lines at an early age while others don’t start to notice them until they are in their 30’s or 40’s. These lines are difficult to treat with wrinkle creams and they can become a focal point of your appearance, causing you to feel self-conscious. This injectable will treat, soften, and eventually erase forehead lines, from moderate to severe.

Crow’s Feet

Crow’s feet form at the outside corners of the eyes and are a telltale sign of aging in both men and women alike. Some people only exhibit them when they are smiling while other people have them both while smiling and while their face is at rest. There are not many ways to treat crow’s feet aside from wrinkle creams and serums, but this injectable will give you the results that no other product can.

Frown Lines

Frown lines can be genetic, or they can just be an inevitable sign of the aging process. They form between the eyebrows above the nose and can make you look older or angrier than you are. They often take on the shape of the number 11 right between your eyes, or they can develop into a deep fold. Whatever the case, this injectable can erase those frown lines and make you look younger and happier.

Treating Health-Related Concerns

In the medical world, this injectable is used to treat a variety of different health conditions and provide pain relief for those who struggle with specific physical ailments. Typically, when used to treat physical ailments, this injectable is administered in the environment of a doctor’s office, not typically in a medspa, yet some treatments such as Botox for hyperhidrosis, a condition that causes excessive sweating, can be administered in a cosmetic setting.

This neurotoxin can treat many different health-related concerns including:

Providing pain relief for those who struggle with chronic migraines
Treating cervical dystonia, which is a condition involving neck spasms
Helping prevent conditions associated with overactive bladder
Helping to treat and correct a lazy eye
Temporarily resolving hyperhidrosis, a condition that causes extreme sweating
Helping to resolve a condition that causes muscle stiffness in both adults and children

What Exactly Is Botox?

You may know what this injectable is capable of, but you may not understand what it exactly is and how it works. This injectable is a neurotoxin. It is a highly purified form of botulinum toxin that is injected directly into the muscles to treat and prevent dynamic wrinkles.

What Are Dynamic Wrinkles?

Dynamic wrinkles develop with the aging process. Throughout your life, your face gets pulled and stretched into expressions each day. As your skin begins to lose elasticity and collagen production within the body decreases, the skin no longer bounces back like it used to. Instead, expressions begin to leave a lasting mark on the face. Those marks deepen with the aging process and are very difficult to treat with anti-aging topicals alone.

Dynamic expressions result when the muscles responsible for dynamic movements such as raising your eyebrows, laughing, crying, frowning, and squinting, are constantly moving and your skin just can’t respond the way that it used to. Dynamic wrinkles then form because the skin needs a break from movement but when you’re expressing all day, that’s just not possible.

How Does It Work?

This treatment provides the skin with the break that it needs to make wrinkles disappear. Once injected into the muscles that cause dynamic wrinkles, the ingredients within this neurotoxin temporarily inhibit the muscles from moving. When they can no longer force the skin to move back-and-forth in different ways when expressions are made, the skin gets the chance to rest and wrinkles disappear.

What Areas Does It Treat?

Cosmetically, Botox is FDA-approved to treat moderate to severe forehead lines, crow’s feet at the outer corners of the eyes, and frown lines that form between the eyebrows.

What Happens During a Treatment?

During your initial treatment, you will have first undergone an initial consultation with an injector to determine a treatment plan that works best for your needs. Once you arrive for your appointment, your injector will clean the areas of your face that will be treated and will then administer the injection in the areas pre-discussed to help treat your particular signs of aging.

This injectable is housed within an injection fitted with an ultra-fine needle. If you are nervous about needles, you can rest assured that even the most needle-phobic men and women can handle these injections with ease. The ultra-fine needle allows for a quick and relatively painless injection. Injections typically take anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes total, making this a relatively quick appointment that you can schedule over your lunch break if necessary.

How Many Units Will I Need?

It is difficult to determine on your own without having consulted with an injector just how many units you will need to treat and correct your problem areas. Most people are curious about the total number of units needed to reach their goals since the total cost of Botox depends on the total number of units injected. During your initial consultation, you will be able to get a better idea of how many units you will need to reach your goals.

Then, you’ll be able to budget accordingly and set up a treatment plan that will help you reach your aesthetic goals. You can discuss all of these details during your initial consultation so that you aren’t faced with any surprises on the day of your appointment.

How Long Does It Take To See Results?

It usually takes anywhere from three to four days to begin to see results after your initial injection. The ingredients within this neurotoxin slowly affect the muscle until it is completely paralyzed. Once this happens, the skin will no longer be forced into dynamic movements, and wrinkles and lines will begin to fade. Your results will continue to improve in the weeks following your initial treatment.

How Long Will My Results Last?

Your results will last as long as it takes for your body to metabolize the ingredients within the injectable. This is different for everyone. Some people are fast metabolizers and their results begin to fade three months post-treatment. Other people are average metabolizers and typically see their results last for four months. And finally, some are slow metabolizers and they experience their results the longest, lasting up to six months or more.

After your initial treatment, you will get a good idea of what kind of metabolize are you are. Then, you can plan your follow-up treatments accordingly so that you don’t have to experience any kind of interruption in your results. Once your results begin to fade, you can simply contact us to schedule your follow-up treatment so that you can maintain your wrinkle-free skin.

Is There a Way To Make My Results Last Longer?

Since the body is responsible for how quickly the ingredients within this injectable are metabolized, there is nothing you can do to change the way your body metabolizes this product. However, there are a few different factors that may make a difference in how long your results last.

Consider Your Exercise Routine

Those who perform extreme amounts of exercise every day typically are typically very quick metabolizers. If there is no way to change your exercise habits, you can expect to metabolize the ingredients within this injectable relatively quickly, which will mean that you need follow-up treatments sooner than those who exercise moderately.

Take a Zinc Supplement

There have been some positive yet inconclusive studies regarding the effect of zinc supplements on this injectable’s results. Those in the study with a zinc deficiency did not have the same long-lasting results as those whose bodies were fully fortified with zinc. Making sure that you are taking a supplement with enough zinc each day after your initial treatment may help you see results longer than if you didn’t.

If you’re not a fan of supplements, you can add zinc-rich foods to your diet, including lean cuts of beef, pork, lamb, beans, nuts, lentils, garbanzo beans, eggs, and shellfish, such as oysters.

Will I Look Fake?

One of the necessary talking points that you will address during your initial consultation is your end goal. You have an idea of how you do and don’t want to look and you need to express that ideal to your injector. Everyone has most likely seen unprofessional Botox, and no one wants to end up like that person. If you’re worried about getting poor results, don’t trust your face to just anyone. You need to find an injector who is skilled and trained in injectables.

You can rest assured that when you choose our office for your anti-aging treatments, your face will be in the hands of a highly-trained expert, fully skilled in the art of facial anatomy who will do everything possible to help you look as natural as possible. Our clients look like themselves post-treatment, just younger and more rested than they did before treatment.

Am I a Candidate?

If you are struggling with the signs of aging, whether that looks like forehead lines, crow’s feet, frown lines, or all of the above, you are most likely a candidate who will benefit from this anti-aging injectable. During your initial consultation, we will review your health history to make sure that you are not allergic to any of the ingredients included within this neurotoxin.

We will also review your goals, and analyze your problem areas to develop a treatment plan that best aligns with your ideal aesthetics. You will not be a candidate for treatment if you have an allergy to one of the ingredients in this neurotoxin, or if you are pregnant or nursing.

Schedule Your Initial Consultation Today

Your lines don’t have to define you. If you’ve lived with the signs of aging for too long, now is the time to invest in yourself and your self-confidence. Aging can be graceful and we are here to help make the aging process as smooth as possible. Once you take the step to add this injectable into your anti-aging routine, you will never look back. Contact us today at the office of Dr. James DeStephens in Gainesville, FL, and schedule your initial Botox consultation.

What Is Botox Used For?