Botulinum toxin and facial muscles (Botox°)

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This is particularly the case at the level of the forehead for which the only solution until now was the section of the frontal muscles performed during classic facelifts or by endoscopy. In aesthetic medicine, botulinum toxin, injected directly into the muscles responsible for wrinkles, gives the same result, while maintaining sufficient mobility to leave expression on the face.

Botulinum toxin injection

It is an allopathic medicine that has also been used for a long time against spasms of the eyelids, face or neck (botox°, Bocouture°, Azzalure°, Vistabel°…). In comparison, the doses used in aesthetics are very low. The injected toxin decreases the contraction of the treated muscles for a few months by blocking a certain number of their nerve impulse receptors.

Example before/after toxin injection for forehead wrinkles

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The Botox° injection technique

Tiny injections are made into the skin muscles located a few millimeters deep. The precise places are chosen by the doctor according to the wrinkles to be treated but also (especially in MIA) according to the overall expression of the face. We then seek to harmonize the expression of the different areas (for example we will attenuate the frown of a forehead which wrinkles much more than the rest of a face, or even we will reduce the strength of the skin muscles which attract too much the expression of a mouth down…).

The Botox injection is simple, painless and quick. The most important is the choice of points and quantities to inject, the overall vision of the face for a natural result. Properly done injections should not show on a face.

After the toxin injection session

The suites are very simple. Very rarely, a few small bruises appear at the injection points and disappear very quickly. Sensations occur in the following week, such as “small tugging”. Mobility is reduced but not fixed if the doses are light. One normally resumes one’s activities after the injection of botulinum toxin.

Results and interview

After 4 to 6 days, the results are visible: rested, relaxed face, sometimes “spontaneous lifting” effect of the upper half of the face. The forehead is smooth, having lost its severe or sad character. The results are quick and often spectacular. After 4 months, the effect diminishes. The session must be renewed and the same after the 2nd and 3rd session. In general after three sessions the effect can last from 6 to 9 months.

Botulinum toxin and health care risks

By respecting the usual doses used in aesthetics, there are no serious accidents.

Much higher doses are used in certain diseases (muscle spasms, incontinence, etc.). Incidents and side effects can however be seen from time to time: transient headaches, swelling of the eyelids, modification of the gaze or an expression that is too pronounced. They are reversible in all cases. This makes it possible to classify the botulinum toxin among the acts used in integral anti-aging medicine, especially since it is highly effective.

The whole point of view

Botulinum toxin is allopathic aesthetic medicine. Although “of natural origin”, this toxin is nonetheless a powerful drug that should not be put in everyone’s hands and should be used sparingly.

It brings today results as spectacular as natural if it is used well. That is to say: by balancing the muscles of the face considered as a whole, and not by simply blocking this or that expression that generates wrinkles, which could lead to a face that is too “frozen”.

It is therefore necessary to adapt, in the doses as in the indications, to each person. This is where the art of the practitioner and his global approach to the face take on their full importance.