Botulinum toxin, popularly shortened to “Botox” is one of the more effective methods to treat facial wrinkles and specific expression lines that give away one’s age.
The common name brands for Botulinum toxin treatments (or Toxin Treatments) are BotoxⓇ, DysportⓇ, XeominⓇ or JeuveauⓇ. These injectable medications soften expression lines caused by the underlying facial muscles.
The common areas that respond well to Botulinum treatments are horizontal forehead wrinkles, vertical and horizontal wrinkles in the area between the brows known as the glabella, and lines at the corners of the eyes known as “crow’s feet” or lateral canthal lines.
Pharmaceutical companies have been making botulinum toxin-based injectables for decades and have formulated several highly popular anti-aging products, such as BotoxⓇ, DysportⓇ, XeominⓇ or JeuveauⓇ.
While these substances work similarly, they should not be used interchangeably. As you may have noted, these are medications and therefore they should only be administered by highly trained professionals like the medical staff at Chicago Aesthetic Surgery Institute and NeoDerma DaySpa.
Learn more about the injectable toxin products available at our practice by exploring the information below.
How Toxins Work For Facial Aging
Botulinum toxin is a prescription medication that is injected into very specific muscles of the face to temporarily relax the muscle and soften the specific facial wrinkles caused by those muscles. To be even more detailed about how this works, keep reading below!
This prescription medication is botulinum toxin-just carefully dosed and administered! Botulinum toxin is a protein made by a bacteria known as Clostridium botulinum. That protein prevents the neurotransmitter (acetylcholine) from being released from the end of the axon nerve ending at the junction of the nerve to the muscle, known as the neuromuscular junction. When the stimulation from the nerve can’t be transmitted across the junction of the nerve to the muscle, the muscle doesn’t contract and the facial expression line (aka wrinkle) softens or is completely prevented from being seen- leaving you looking years younger!
BotoxⓇ
BotoxⓇ is a purified form of botulinum toxin that, when injected, paralyzes the muscles that contract to create wrinkles for a predictable period of time. It is most commonly used on the forehead, the space between the eyebrows above the nose, and the outer eye area. BotoxⓇ is also approved for treating eyelid and neck muscle spasms, excess sweating (hyperhidrosis) and migraine headaches.
DysportⓇ
DysportⓇ is an alternative to BotoxⓇ. It is another injectable form of botulinum toxin to smooth wrinkles. While these medications work similarly, they should not be used interchangeably. There are certain advantages of DysportⓇ making it the optimal botulinum formula for certain patients. The highly trained professionals at CASI customize your treatment plan and help determine which botulinum toxin will work best for you!
XeominⓇ
XeominⓇ is an alternative to BotoxⓇ and DysportⓇ. It is another injectable form of botulinum toxin to smooth wrinkles. As mentioned above, these medications work similarly, however they should not be used interchangeably. The highly trained professionals at CASI customize your treatment plan and help determine which botulinum toxin will work best for you!
JeuveauⓇ
JeuveauⓇ is an alternative to BotoxⓇ, DysportⓇ and XeominⓇ. It is another injectable form of botulinum toxin to smooth wrinkles. As mentioned above, these medications work similarly, however they should not be used interchangeably. The highly trained professionals at CASI customize your treatment plan and help determine which botulinum toxin will work best for you!
What To Expect After The Treatment
Small bumps from the injection and from the medication can be seen for an hour or so after the treatment. The injection process involved very small needles injected into specific places of the face. Although most bruising can be avoided, small blood vessels are part of the facial anatomy- so bruising can’t be avoided all together, every time.
Toxins DO NOT have an immediate effect on the facial muscles! Each product is made slightly different and has a slightly different molecular formula-so there is some variability in time of onset and duration of effect.
In general, most Toxins start working within 2-7 days. The timeline to consider “touch up” or additional treatment is typically before 14 days.
The treatment effect can vary with 3-4 months being the normal duration of effect. Some patients report even longer duration of effect in certain areas, like the forehead, while other areas like crow’s feet will have shorter treatment effect. The dose administered has a very important influence on duration of effect- which is why you have to see medical professionals, like those at CASI, who have years of experience, use the medications daily and are trained properly.
All these medications work with slightly different molecular formulations and each patient can have slightly different outcomes, making it important to customize your treatments- like we do at CASI!
Other Treatments To Consider
Each patient’s aging pattern is unique- aging gracefully is the goal at CASI!
The aging process is multifactorial and affects the face on every level- one of the face, soft tissues (like fat and muscles) and the skin itself.
With that in mind, we at CASI always start with a full facial examination and will start the discussion of other treatments as we get to know you. Toxin Treatments do not address all the changes that come with aging; however it’s a good time to start when you see expression lines that start to be visible when the face is at rest.
The timeframe of aging that most patients start Toxin Treatments to soften wrinkles coincides typically with other aging changes that require a different treatment.
Photofacial/IPL/BBL treatments can help with the browns and reds of skin as it ages. Laser peels and chemical peels help with skin texture and intrinsic aging changes of the skin. Microneedling and Morpheus (Microneedling with energy from Radiofrequency Frequency) energize the body while healing to tighten skin and stimulate collagen formation. Small pockets of fat can be melted with Kybella while focused facial fat sculpting with FaceTite can smooth fat pockets that droop with age.
How CASI Does It Better
Years of experience, proper training, hundreds of patients is how CASI does it better! We start with a proper exam and evaluation- it’s what we do every day! Careful documentation of your treatment with both photographs and a digital medical record system. Customization of the treatment to achieve your best look!
Schedule your Appointment Today
If you are interested in treatment with toxins or other injectables in Chicago and would like more information, please contact our practice today.