When you hear the word Botox, you probably think about an injection to treat wrinkles.
And you are right.
But there are many brands of anti-wrinkle treatments that use the same material as Botox and work just like Botox. Some of these are Dysport, Xeomin and Myobloc.
Botox just happens to be the most used and most well known treatment, and we often therefore use the term Botox synonymous with this treatment.
Just like we back in the days used the word Xerox synonymous for a copy machine (as they were the dominant brand).
Botox and these other brands are made from something called Botulinum.
Then what is Botulinum?
Botulinum is a neurotoxin produced by a bacteria called Clostridium Botulinum. This bacteria lives practically anywhere in nature, and you find it in dirt, water, on plants, trees, and practically everywhere.
When this bacteria produces spores, it can also produce very small amounts of the toxin Botulinum. This toxin is one of the most lethal toxins known to mankind, however, regular and minuscule production is normally harmless to the environment.
However, when an organism is exposed to Botulinum in adequate doses, the Botulinum can paralyze the organism.
But how?
What this neurotoxin does is to prevent the ability of nerve cells in the body to communicate with each other. And when the nerve cells cannot communicate, no movement can take place.
This got the attention of the medical industry, which in the 1970’s poured money into research on medical applications of this neurotoxin.
And they found something to use it for: The eye disorders ‘crossed eyes’.
Botulinum was able to improve this condition by partially or fully paralyzing the muscles causing ‘crossed eyes’.
But it didn’t stop here.
Botulinum was approved in 1989 for muscle eye disorders such as squinting, wandering eye, lazy eye and twitching eye.
Then something interesting happened:
When patients were treated with Botulinum for these eye disorders, the doctors noticed that wrinkles around their eyes (called Crow’s Feet) significantly faded.
It turned out that the injections also partially paralyzed the muscles that caused the formation of Crow’s Feet.
This in turn set off an avalanche of research into whether Botulinum could be used to treat Crow’s Feet and other wrinkles.
And the answer was ‘yes’.
Botulinum was granted approval for treatment of wrinkles in 2002, and it has since become one of the most popular anti-wrinkle treatments in the world.
In addition:
Botulinum is today applied medically to treat more than 20 different muscular conditions, including eye squints, migraines, excess sweating and leaky bladders.
Botulinum, or Botox, is today administered by thousands of clinics around the world, such as by TreatMyWrinkles Southampton. TreatMyWrinkles has treated persons with Botox in Southampton for a decade and performed thousands of injections. Here are the top 3 questions their clients ask us about Botox:
How Exactly Does Botox Work?
When Botulinum is injected into a local muscle group (and by the way, only a very small amount of diluted Botulinum is injected), this muscle group becomes fully or partially paralyzed.
What this means, is that these muscles are no longer able to create the same facial expression that causes your skin to fold where it used to.
Therefore, your skin gets a ‘break’ from this folding, and the formation of the wrinkle stops up.
After some time of not folding the skin in the same area, the wrinkle will normally fade and may in the end disappear completely
How Long Does It Take To See Results From Botox?
The effects are not immediate.
It normally takes at least a few days to see the first signs of improvement. After about 2 weeks, the results should be significant, and if you continue the treatment over time, even deep wrinkles can disappear.
The reason the effect is not immediate, is because your skin needs time to revert back to its initial smooth state. So even if you stop this exact folding of the skin, the skin still has some ‘memory’ and needs time to adjust.
Will My Face Look Frozen After Botox?
As long as you get your treatment done by a licensed and certified professional, you should not end up with a frozen look.
There will be certain facial expressions that will be less pronounced after the Botox treatment, but they will normally still be with you and if done correctly, nobody will know that you had treatment.
Keep in mind that the purpose of the treatment is to improve your presence, not to harm it.
What Is The Downtime After Getting Botox Injections?
There normally is no downtime. In other words, you should be able to walk out of the clinic and continue with your day just as normal.
You should however avoid blood-thinning medication, alcohol and strenuous exercise for the next 2 days.
Normally, there are also no or very few signs of the injections.
However, some people may see some bruising, swelling or redness where the injections were made.
