What is Botox?
Botox Cosmetic® remains the most popular non-surgical cosmetic treatment around the world and for good reason. These quick and comfortable wrinkle relaxing injections are safe and have a client satisfaction rating of over 90%!
Botox is a highly purified form of a natural protein that was approved by Health Canada in 2001 for the treatment of frown lines and crows feet. It belongs to a class of medications called neuromodulators which work by blocking messages from nerves to tiny muscles in the areas where they are injected. Once treated, the muscles gradually relax resulting in smoothness of the overlying skin.
What is Botox Used For?
If you are looking to get rid of your tired angry look, or want to improve lines and wrinkles that make you look older or unapproachable, Botox treatments may be the solution. By preventing the contraction of targeted facial muscles, Botox softens lines and wrinkles leading to a more relaxed appearance.
Achieving a natural Botox result is harder than it looks. It requires the ability to study every clients’ unique anatomy and assess how their muscles work together when they express themselves. Dr. Andrea Hickey and her injection team use their knowledge, skill, and artistry to map the injection pattern that will give you the best result.
The use of Botox has grown and experienced injectors like Dr Hickey are continually building on their knowledge to provide an outstanding natural result.
In addition to frowns, foreheads and crows feet our Fredericton clinic injectors have expertise in uses for botox including:
Brow lift and brow shaping
Lip flip and lipstick lines
Neck bands/ Nefertiti lift
Masseter for facial slimming and teeth clenching (bruxism)
Bunny lines on nose
Gummy smile
What is a Botox treatment like?
Typically, a Botox visit takes no more than 15 minutes from start to finish. Your physician or nurse injector will spend the first part of the appointment consulting with you about your goals and desired look. The assessment, planning and marking of your injection sites actually takes longer than the treatment. Most first time Botox clients are surprised by how quick and easy the injections are. Dr. Hickey and her injector team excel at gentle techniques to make your experience comfortable. A numbing cream may be applied but is usually not necessary. For a short time after your treatment, you may have tiny red bumps at the injection sites. You can return to regular daily activities immediately.
What can I expect for results from Botox?
Everyone metabolizes the botulinum toxin differently, therefore it is not a one size fits all treatment. Botox Cosmetic, and all currently approved neuromodulators begin to take effect within just a few days and reach their peak of relaxation at 2 weeks. On average, they last 3-4 months. While there are some differences between brands such as Botox®, Nuceiva™, Xeomin® and Dysport™, they all work in the same way.
When the Botox effect begins wearing off, you will see the muscle movement gradually return. With regular Botox treatments, you can maintain a consistent and naturally refreshed look and delay the appearance of more lines and wrinkles. We will guide you on when you should schedule your next Botox treatment to optimize your maintenance result.
After several treatments the effect of Botox may last longer and a smaller amount of the medication may be required to maintain the desired effect. If you wish to stop Botox treatments at any time, you can be confident that you will gradually return to your pre-treatment appearance.
