Sunday, August 16, 2009

When is the Right Time to Get Botox?

Botox has become a household name as a cosmetic treatment to reduce the appearance of wrinkles on the face caused by facial muscle contraction. The on label use for Botox is for injection of the lines, or the "11", between the brows. Off label uses include for the fine lines emanating from the lateral corners of the eyes ("crow's feet"), and the furrows of the head caused by frontalis muscle contraction. Those are the transverse lines that you see when someone raises their brow or looks surprised. Also, Dysport is a competing product that is very similar to Botox and was recently approved by the FDA for use.

Lately there has been a lot of buzz about the average age of women (and men to a lesser extent) seeking Botox for the treatment of wrinkles. In the video below, I describe how and why younger women would seek Botox, when it would or would not be indicated, and what the difference is between soft tissue fillers (substances that are used to provide volume in deflated areas of the face) and Botox, a temporary and selective muscle paralytic. This video can be found on the Plastic Surgery Channel (based in Dallas, TX), an awesome source of information about cosmetic surgery procedures as well as a quality source of news on the topic of plastic and reconstructive surgery.

In the video, I explain that fine superficial lines that come from age, sun exposure, and smoking are best treated with resurfacing agents like chemical peels or laser...for young 'uns I would recommend a light peel like alpha-hydroxy acid or glycolic acid over one of the more aggressive peels like TCA or phenol (and prevention by staying out of the sun and not smoking). The thing to remember about chemical peels is that afterwards, redness and peeling can occur for up to two to three weeks, and sunblock and/or sun avoidance is an absolute must to avoid pigmentation problems as your face heals!






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