BOTOX® Aftercare: Tips for Looking After Your Skin
Even if you have a great skincare routine, it’s difficult to completely prevent the effects of aging and skin damage from giving you a worn-down look over time. And it’s not just normal aging and reduced levels of collagen in the skin that we need to worry about. The repeated facial expressions we make each day cause wrinkles to become entrenched in the skin in the areas where it creases together each time we frown, smile, squint, raise our eyebrows or purse our lips. Once the wrinkles have become set into our skin, it’s difficult to minimize them just by using topical products. Fortunately there are other options. Botulinum toxin injectables like BOTOX® are sometimes called wrinkle relaxers. They address the underlying cause of the wrinkles by preventing the movements of facial muscles that cause lines and furrows to develop.While no recovery time is necessary and side effects are minor, what you do during the days after a treatment session will have an impact on the results. Here’s a simple guide to what you should and shouldn’t do after having wrinkle injections. Los Angeles-area folks used to the heat and an active lifestyle might find a couple of these challenging, but the results are worth it!
Avoid Exposure to High Temperatures
Avoid saunas, steam rooms, Jacuzzis, hot weather, sun beds, and other heat-related environments right after getting BOTOX®. Excessive heat can cause the product to diffuse and have a shorter lifespan while also increasing the risk of swelling, redness, and irritation.
Don’t Put Too Much Pressure on Your Skin
Your skin may feel tight after an injection session. Try to avoid massaging, rubbing, or applying too much pressure to the areas of your face that were injected for at least the first 24 hours. Pressure on the skin could cause the active ingredient in BOTOX® to not reach the necessary cells, and it might move into areas where diminished muscle action results in a less-than-ideal look.
Don’t Engage in Heavy Exercise
It’s best to avoid significant physical activity at first, as such exercise could cause the BOTOX® to be dispersed. Many experienced medical professionals recommend waiting at least 24 hours before resuming exercise, though some injectors may recommend waiting for a longer time.
Ready to learn more about wrinkle injections? Our team at Cosmetic Surgery Institute is available to answer any of your questions. Call us at (760) 837-0364 or submit a contact form to request a consultation.
BOTOX®, Dysport®, and Xeomin®: How Do They Compare?
When it comes to getting
rid of pesky wrinkles and lines, patients know that BOTOX®
in Palm Desert is an
especially effective way to achieve a more alert, rejuvenated, and youthful
facial appearance. However, some patients may be unaware that BOTOX®
isn’t the only injectable neurotoxin available; there are other products, such
as Dysport® and Xeomin®, that are comparable to the most
famous wrinkle-fighting brand. Statistics from the American Society of Plastic
Surgeons show that botulinum toxin type A injections were the most frequently
performed minimally invasive procedure in 2019.
Wondering which of the botulinum
toxin-derived injectables is best suited for your needs? Our Cosmetic Surgery
Institute team provides a basic explanation of the subtle similarities and
differences between BOTOX®, Dysport®, and Xeomin®.
BOTOX®
BOTOX® is FDA-approved
for frown lines (glabellar lines), crow’s feet, and forehead lines. It’s the
most popular wrinkle injection of its kind in the United States and was the
first of this type to be approved for cosmetic use.
All neurotoxin injectables contain
a purified form of a protein called botulinum toxin type A as their active
ingredient. The chemical temporarily stops wrinkles caused by excessive muscle
activity by preventing signals from the nerves from reaching the muscles.
Injections are administered
in-office via a micro-needle, introduced into specific facial muscles. No
recovery time is required, and any side effects that the patient
experiences—such as bruising or swelling—are typically very mild and temporary.
Effects last between three to four months.
Dysport®
Dysport® is FDA-approved
for moderate to severe glabellar lines. It is less potent than BOTOX®
and diffuses more easily, so it works well on larger areas. The onset is faster,
as it starts working within 24 hours, but it tends to wear off more quickly
than BOTOX®.
Xeomin®
In some cases, other
muscle-relaxing injectables grow less effective over time on patients who use
them regularly, because their bodies essentially develop a resistance to them. Xeomin®
is a unique neuromodulator in that it contains only botulinum toxin, without
any additives, so patients are less likely to build up a resistance. Also, fewer
units may be needed to get the same results.
No one injectable is
“better” than another. Instead, certain options may be betters suited for
specific patients. Our team can help to determine which is best for you.
Learn more about BOTOX®,
Dysport®, and Xeomin® from Palm Desert’s Cosmetic Surgery Institute. For further details, give us a call at (760)
837-0364 or submit
a contact form to request a
consultation.
4 Tell-Tale Signs You’ve Had BOTOX® (and How to Avoid Them)
Cosmetic treatments weren’t always things that people openly discussed. Although times are changing and “having work done” is no longer a taboo topic for conversation, it’s understandable that not everyone is ready to announce to the world when they’ve had an injection somewhere on their face or body. Some people simply aren’t as comfortable when it comes to being open about this subject with friends, family, or strangers—for fear of judgment or something else—and that’s OK. If you want to keep things under wraps when having BOTOX® near Rancho Mirage and Palm Desert, here are some things our physicians at Cosmetic Surgery Institute recommend considering:
1. Overarched Eyebrows
Brows that resemble Mr. Spock from Star Trek and give you a perpetually surprised or angry expression will be a dead giveaway to others. Minimize the risk of this and other unwanted side effects by choosing a qualified provider who uses proper techniques from proper training. Women and men who may have found themselves with this unfortunate result from a visit to a less-than-stellar injector can come to Cosmetic Surgery Institute, where we can help by strategically adding small amounts of BOTOX® to relax the muscles that are pulling the brows up.
2. Immobile Forehead
The secret to keeping your face looking as natural and refreshed as possible is using just the right amount of BOTOX®. You want to continue to have movement in the face. Too much injected into forehead area just causes it to be awkwardly stiff and gives you a robotic expression that makes your neuromodulator use very obvious.
3. Bunny Nose
Some people already have fine, diagonal lines at the sides of their nose from aging, but it’s a little-known reality that BOTOX® injected nearby for other reasons occasionally causes them to be more apparent. You can see these “bunny lines” when you squint or laugh and your nose crinkles. The muscles in this area that work harder to make expressions after you’ve injected other areas, such as the forehead, can be softened with a few extra units around the nose.
4. Bruising
Reddish or purple bruises
after any needle injection are common. Avoid scheduling a treatment just before
a major social event—and give yourself time to heal, just in case. Ice your
face after a treatment, and apply a neutralizing concealer to hide bruises if necessary.
You can also ask our team for more advice.
Learn more about BOTOX®
from our experienced team at Cosmetic
Surgery Institute. For further
details, call us at (760) 837-0364 or fill out a contact form to submit your info.