How does it work?
Botox is a neurotoxin used by medical professionals to treat certain muscular conditions by temporarily reduces the contraction of certain muscles. Don’t get put off by the word ‘toxin’ - it’s only toxic in high doses, nowhere near the amount that would be used in a cosmetic procedure. It takes up to 72 hours to take effect and a few days after that before the full effect is observed. A typical treatment used to correct multiple areas is around $500 and lasts about 4 months.
What’s the difference between Botox and Dysport?
Dysport is the European cousin of the American Botox (made by different companies). Overall Botox and Dysport are very similar. Both are a type of botulinum type A used to relax muscles that cause the likes of forehead lines, frown lines and crows feet. However, the doses are different so make sure you have someone experienced injecting them.
If it’s good, they won’t be able to see it
The thing about a good Botox session is, it should never look obvious to other people. Yes you’ll see a huge difference but it should never come with this obvious tell-tale cosmetic enhancement signs. It’s designed to relax muscles that cause lines, so really all you should see is a smoothing out and relaxation of the face; it won’t have you looking like one of the Real Housewives of Beverley Hills.
It’s a safe procedure
Botox is now the number one cosmetic enhancement procedure done in the world and has a very low rate of minor side effects like bruising which occurs in less than 1 per cent of cases performed by an experienced practitioner.
It’s more complicated than you think
The human face typically has about 43 muscles, so relaxing the specific muscles responsible for creating certain lines is not necessarily as simple as you might think. Although the actual injection part of the procedure usually only lasts a few minutes, it’s imperative that your doctor knows what they’re doing and what you’re wanting to achieve.
It matters who does the procedure!
Botox is one of those procedures that doesn’t require rigorous training or qualifications to be able to offer it as a service. Therefore there are varying levels of quality in the industry. The vast majority of the horror stories you hear around Botox and Disport procedures are a direct result of injector error, and nothing to do with the product itself. If you’re looking at having injections, I’d strongly recommend going with a qualified doctor (I see the doctors at Clinic 42) for a number of reasons: they more thoroughly understand facial anatomy and therefore how to achieve the desired effect, you can guarantee they’re offering a sanitary and sterile environment, and sometimes Botox is actually not the best way to achieve the effect you’re after and they can guide you in a more appropriate solution.
It can work well as a preventative
I’ve been using Botox since I was about 23. Of course I didn’t have any visible lines at that age but that’s the point. Using a little bit early on to reduce muscle movement before you get permanent lines can significantly delay the onset of deep facial lines to begin with.
Men are catching on
Women have long been held to a higher standard of beauty than the boys but we’re catching on. Male cosmetic produces involving Botox (or ‘Brotox’) have skyrocketed 258% in the last decade in the US alone.
photo credit azbigmedia.com
Stop the sweat
Botox was originally developed in the 1980s to control lazy eyes and then the anti ageing applications largely took over, however it can also be used for a number of other procedures including excessive sweating, migraines, reducing a gummy smile and treating excessively oily skin.
The daily grind
In addition to keeping you dry, Botox can be used to correct Bruxism, or grinding and clenching of the teeth (stay tuned for more info on this soon), as well as physically changing the shape or contour of your jawline.