Botulinum toxin type A is an injectable neurotoxin, better known under brand names such as BOTOX Cosmetic®, Dysport®, and Xeomin®. Neurotoxin treatments are the most popular single cosmetic procedure in the U.S. and are mainly used to smooth dynamic wrinkles, or those wrinkles that form as a result of facial movements like frowning, squinting, smiling, and other expressions we tend to make day after day. Treatment works by blocking nerve impulses to the muscles, causing them to relax. As a result, your expressions soften and the dynamic wrinkles are greatly reduced.
Wrinkles result from a combination of many factors. It’s not just about cellular changes that can occur over time, reduction of collagen, or damage caused by free radicals in the sun and the environment. When you frown or concentrate, the muscles between your brows contract, causing your skin to furrow and fold. And when you squint, the muscles around your eyes contract and cause crow’s feet.
BOTOX®
BOTOX® Cosmetic targets one of the underlying causes of frown lines and crow’s feet—the repeated muscle contractions from frowning and squinting over the years. Your specialist will inject these muscles with BOTOX® Cosmetic to temporarily reduce muscle activity. You will begin to notice a visible smoothing of your crow’s feet lines and frown lines between your brows.
Crows Feet Area
For the crow’s feet area, your specialist will inject 3 areas of the orbicularis oculi, the muscle that frames the side of the eye. This will be repeated on the orbicularis oculi muscle on the other eye.
Injecting BOTOX® Cosmetic into the muscles that cause crow’s feet lines temporarily reduces the activity of those muscles. The result is a reduction in the appearance of those lines.
Click the image to enlarge before and after.
Frown Lines Area
For the frown lines area, your specialist will administer 5 injections into muscles in your forehead—1 in the procerus muscle and 4 in the corrugator muscles.
Injecting BOTOX® Cosmetic into the muscles that cause frown lines temporarily reduces the activity of those muscles. The result is a reduction in the appearance of those lines.
Click the image to enlarge before and after.
Dysport®
Wrinkles aren’t your style and the “frozen look” isn’t either. For adults who want a natural look, there’s Dysport®, a prescription injection proven to help smooth the appearance of moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows without changing the look or movement of the rest of your face. Untreated muscles still work normally, so you can continue to express feelings naturally. It’s the lines that are minimized, not your expressions.
How Dysport® Works
One injection. Five points — Dysport® treats moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows by reducing specific muscle activity. Wrinkles are caused by repeated movements and muscle contractions, which means they can even develop in younger adults. One injection into each of 5 points between and above the eyebrows temporarily prevents muscle contractions that cause frown lines, leaving the rest of your face to move naturally. In other words, no frozen look, just natural-looking results. You can control your look instead of your look controlling you.