You wake up one day and look in the mirror and suddenly what you see does not satisfy you. You notice wrinkles on your forehead, under your eyes and around the lips. And you start wondering where these lines have come from. It is the reality that our faces transform with time. We can either admit to it or try to change it. Plastic surgery can do miracles but sometimes no surgical intervention is needed. What you might need is a single injection of Botox to look better, younger and fresh.
Why skin ages
Skin changes with age. It loses water and hence elasticity. But this is not the only reason for the wrinkles to show up. With time, collagen in the skin starts depleting, hormonal balance changes and our skin is being damaged by free radicals. These factors cause skin aging and lines to appear.
Besides, we show all our emotions with our face. We laugh when we are happy, we put our brows together when we are angry or upset, we cry when we feel sad. These all require facial muscle movements. With time there is a huge amount of such movements and finally the skin produces wrinkles at the sites of usual facial muscle movements. Folds that show up between our brows are actually a result of continuous muscle movements.
What is botox?
Botox cosmetic is a botulinum toxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is purified and moderated so that it can be safely used in beauty procedures. Botulinum reduces the action of the forehead muscles that cause the lines between the eyebrows to appear.
Botox cosmetic itself is an easy procedure that is administered by a doctor. Wrinkles between the brows are totally reduced or smoothened for a certain period of time, as a result of this treatment. It is a non-surgical procedure and people between the age of 18 and 65 are eligible to it.
Botox cosmetic treatment takes from 10 to 15 minutes. During this time a few small injections are made on your forehead and the procedure is over. You will notice visible results within a few days after the treatment. The lines between the brows should either disappear completely or at least may be smoothened and your look should be friendlier. These results should remain visible for up to four months after the Botox cosmetic procedure. However, results may vary as it depends very much upon the patient’s personal characteristics. You will need to repeat the treatment again in order for the results to be visible.
Botox procedure may be used to treat frown lines, crow’s feet, forehead wrinkles and neck bands.
Botox cosmetic is said to be the most popular cosmetic procedure after its approval by Food and Drug Administration in the United States. More than one million of people around the United States have already tried this treatment and 90% of them were satisfied with the results.
Botox treatment
Once you have decided you want botox cosmetic treatment, you may wish to see your physician only to ask a few questions. You may easily do so after you had made your appointment. Your doctor should ask a few questions about your past medical history, additional diseases and possible allergies. Even though you might think you are eligible to have the procedure performed and want it very much, your doctor is the one to decide whether you are a good candidate for Botox.
After you and your physician decide that you may have the treatment with Botox cosmetic, you will be seated in a special chair. Your doctor will then administer the cosmetic through a few small injections. These are made on your forehead aiming at your facial muscles that cause wrinkles between your eyebrows. Your doctor should determine where these muscles are prior to the injections by asking you to move your brows. Beware that size and use of the brow muscles is a very individual case.
Although you will need no anesthesia, your doctor may try to make the site of injection insensitive with the help of ice or anesthetic cream. Do not worry about pain because the procedure is almost painless.
Botox cosmetic treatment is very convenient since it does not require any recovery period. Therefore you may have the procedure even during your lunch break and go back straight to work after it. The results should be visible within a few days after the injections and should remain for four consecutive months.
After four months the wrinkles between your eyebrows should appear again and look just like they did before botox treatment. You are allowed to repeat the procedure every four months in order to keep the results noticeable.
Even though you will look better and facial lines will be invisible, your face appearance will not totally change. You will still be able to show your emotions with facial expressions, only they will be without wrinkles.
Botox cost
There is a variety of factors that affect the price of a botox cosmetic procedure. Total cost depends very much upon the physician, region and state. In general, bear in mind that low price usually does not offer the best value possible.
Since botox injections are mostly performed in order to solve beauty problems, most health insurance policies do not cover the cost of the procedure. However, there are certain medical conditions during which botox treatment is needed to cure the disease. Most of these diseases are neurological ones. Therefore when botox is used to treat these conditions, health insurance should cover the cost of the procedure. For more information, please check with your health insurance provider.
The price of a botox treatment ranges between $300 and $600, depending on the above mentioned factors.
Collagen filling agents consist of collagen which is used in injectable form. A small injection is made in the area of a wrinkle and collagen fills a wrinkle leaving the skin with no lines. The results are permanent.