Botox, the magic solution that women are looking for after the age of thirty to treat skin problems and resist the signs of aging.
Certainly, your most concern is the changes that Botox and Filler injections may add to your face, and whether they will give you ideal results as artists or negative results, how much the Botox injection session will cost you, whether it is dangerous or not, and whether you like your features after the experience in order to relieve tension The look on your features?
We offer you everything you need to know before deciding to inject Botox to combat the signs of aging.
What is botox?
Botox is a substance that is toxic to nerve cells, and its scientific name is "onabotulinumtoxin", and it is extracted from a bacteria called "Clostridium botulinum", which is naturally found in the soil and the intestines of some animals and fish.
Botox affects the muscles, nerve endings and some smooth muscles, and prevents the nerves from sending signals to the muscles to contract, causing muscle paralysis for a temporary period depending on the dose used.
The first use of Botox injections was not cosmetic. Five decades ago, ophthalmologist Alan Scott invented a new way to treat around the eyes, by injecting the substance that causes paralysis of the targeted muscles, without any side effects.
Scott conducted his experiments on monkeys, until he injected a human for the first time in 1977, to help a patient with double vision, so he injected him with Botox in the muscles of his eyes, after surgeries failed with him, and the experiment succeeded, and Scott was called the "Father of Botox".
Scott sold the rights to discover Botox to a pharmaceutical company called "Allergan", which developed its cosmetic properties in 1991, and made it a product to smoothen facial wrinkles, causing the spread of Botox that we observe today.
Scott continued the boom in the use of Botox as a cosmetic product, and tried to get doctors to use it as a treatment.
Doctors use Botox to treat migraines and urinary incontinence (Pixels).
What are the uses of Botox?
Researchers are developing more uses for Botox injections, and they are finding more uses each year, because it is considered relatively safe, with few harmful effects, compared to surgical interventions that leave scars and threads that are impossible to remove afterwards.
Doctors use Botox to treat migraines, and they inject the substance to treat bladder activity, excessive sweating, and to treat muscle problems caused by nervous disorders, and it can also be injected into the jaw muscle to treat teeth grinding.
Botox is also used in the field of cosmetology by injection to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles, such as injecting it into eye wrinkles, between the eyebrows, and in the neck, and to hide a gummy smile, around the lips, and all wrinkles that appear naturally and become more prominent with age.
Eye Botox
In 2002, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the use of Botox between the eyebrows as a cosmetic procedure, and eventually approved it to treat wrinkles around the corners of the eyes (crow's feet) in 2013.
The Food Administration has not approved injecting Botox under the eye as a cosmetic procedure, so it is difficult to be sure of the safety of its use in that sensitive area, but it achieved very positive results when injected to raise eyebrows, and it had negative results when injected under the eye.
The risks of injecting Botox around the eyes include: difficulty closing the eyes, eye drooping, eye numbness, and lower eyelid swelling.
Hair Botox
Some beauty clinics are also trying to promote the injection of Botox for the hair and improve its appearance, but there is no evidence of its capabilities in this aspect. Other than that, the substance spread in beauty centers is not Botox, but rather ointments for straightening the hair, which work to break up its internal bonds, not treat it.
The hair Botox available in beauty salons does not contain Botox, and the name is a metaphor for what the product may provide in terms of relaxing the hair, by straightening and smoothing its fibers and giving the hair a youthful, flexible appearance, after it lost its elasticity due to age and drought factors.
If you're lucky, and formaldehyde isn't an essential ingredient in what your stylist suggests, a commercial hair botox will deeply moisturize your hair, coating the hair fibers with a substance like keratin or protein, filling in any broken or thinning hair, making it more lustrous and fuller.
In 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Botox to treat chronic migraines (Al-Jazeera)
Botox for migraines
In 2010, the US Food and Drug Administration approved the use of Botox injections to treat chronic migraines, which are headaches that occur 15 or more days per month.
Indeed, Botox has been successful in treating patients by preventing migraines before they start by injecting it around the nerve endings around which pain arises, and by blocking the release of chemicals and other neurotransmitters involved in pain pathways.
The US Food and Drug Administration recommends 155 Botox units for migraines, which include 31 injections in 7 areas of the head and neck, distributed over several sessions, and the results of a migraine injection usually appear after the first session.
Botox for eyebrow lift
If you fear surgery to remove excess upper eyelid skin, plastic surgeons inject small amounts of Botox into the lower part of the forehead, and the outer tail of the eyebrows.
Botox paralyzes the depressor muscle responsible for drooping eyebrows, while maintaining the integrity of the muscles that raise the eyebrows.
Lifting the eyebrow only a few millimeters helps to make the eyes more open for a youthful appearance, however, this procedure requires an experienced doctor, to be careful not to over-correct the area, and you end up with stiff eyebrows.
In addition to cosmetic surgery, Botox is considered a treatment for those who suffer from benign primary blepharospasm, a neurological condition in which the eye forces itself to close involuntarily, and Botox injections treat it by preventing the muscles from spasm.
Botox stops blocking the nerves after 6 months and the muscles begin to contract again (pixels)
Neck Botox
For a while, doctors believed that Botox was unable to relieve neck and back pain, and after conducting adequate studies, doctors no longer recommend it as a treatment for chronic pain, because the result will not differ much from the results of oral analgesics.
In 2017, new systematic reviews appeared to prove the ability of one type of botulinum toxin B to treat diabetic neuropathy and postoperative neuralgia, while botulinum toxin A type botulinum toxin A was successful in treating trigeminal neuralgia. Neuropathic pain from spinal cord injury.
Oral Botox
Botox can relax the chin muscles, and can reduce scars soon after the injection.
Botox can also invert the sagging upper lip by injecting a small amount of Botox under the nose, giving the upper lip a lifted appearance.
The muscles responsible for tightening the upper lip can be relaxed with Botox to treat the condition of the "gummy lip".
Botox for excessive sweating
For many, getting rid of excessive sweat is not a minor matter, so Botox injections are a treatment that dries up excessively sweaty areas for up to 200 days, by temporarily stopping chemical signals from the nerves that stimulate the sweat glands.
The body does not store sweat in this condition, because the body does not produce sweat where Botox was injected.
Stomach Botox
The belief in the ability of Botox to lose weight through an injection into the stomach comes from the fact that it will paralyze the muscles involved in digesting food, but there is still no medical evidence of the success of this idea, but researchers have confirmed that using Botox injections in the stomach does not help in weight loss. In the long term, patients who underwent this procedure regained their weight after 3 months.
Moreover, the process of injecting Botox into the stomach can cause very serious side effects, such as pain, swelling at the injection site, nausea, and indigestion.
Nose Botox
There are 3 muscles in the nose that can be injected, while retaining the ability to breathe.
Expressive lines that appear on the nose when laughing and frowning are called “rabbit lines”, and they appear deeper as we age, and Botox can be injected on the nose to get rid of them.
Botox can also lift the tip of a dangling nose, which is the most common reason patients use Botox instead of surgery.
Plastic surgeons also treat the enlarged nose or swelling when laughing, by injecting Botox on its sides, and preventing its nostrils from widening.
Botox is extracted from bacteria found in the soil and intestines of some animals and fish (Pixabi).
What is the difference between filler and botox?
If you are wondering about the difference between Botox and Fillers, both are cosmetic procedures that are injected to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and signs of age, and both are superficial cosmetic interventions in the skin, and both provide temporary results, but Botox differs from Filler in its uses.
While Botox causes temporary muscle paralysis, it prevents the eyebrows from constricting or relaxing, the filler works to make the fillings but under the skin, and the filler is injected to fill smile lines, cheeks and lips, and filler injections help reduce scars.
The filler comes in the form of a solution bearing several names, and each name has its own characteristics. The filler solution can consist of “calcium hydroxylapatite” and its effect lasts up to 18 months, while “hyaluronic acid” is to preserve the freshness of your face, and its results last up to 24 months, and “uric acid” Lactic, its results may last up to two years.
Is Botox safe?
The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the use of Botox injections as a treatment for many health problems, such as eyelid spasms, excessive sweating, some bladder disorders, and migraine headaches.
A study published by the American Medical Association confirmed that when a certified dermatologist injects Botox for cosmetic, less than 1% of patients may experience side effects.
Side effects of Botox injections in any area include: bleeding, bruising, dizziness, fainting, pain at the injection site, redness.
It is important to inform your plastic surgeon before the injection if you have amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, or Lambert-Eaton syndrome, or if you take muscle relaxants, hypnotics or anti-allergic drugs.
What is the cost of Botox injections?
Botox injection costs vary depending on the area of the injection, the degree of skin wrinkling, the number of doses you need, who is performing the injections, whether a plastic surgeon or practitioner, the location of the cosmetic clinic, many other standards and materials used, as well as the price of Botox.
The average price of Botox injections ranges from $100 to $1,400, and there is no ruling on those prices except the service provider, he can assess the situation, determine the average price and number of sessions before the injection, or declare that you do not need injections, and you can improve facial lines by committing to drinking water , and topical ointments.
Knowing the average cost of Botox can help you rest assured that your provider is being honest.
The website of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons published prices in 2018 for Botox units, and the unit costs about 10 to 15 dollars, and you can use an average dose between 30 to 40 units to smooth wrinkles in the forehead and eye area, making the cost range between 300 and 600 dollars, but keep in mind that These rates may vary depending on other considerations.
If you are in the process of looking for a cosmetic clinic, you should stay away from clinics that sell their offers at lower prices than the market in your country, unless you trust the treating doctor, or you are sure that the doctor is certified by the Association of Aesthetic Doctors.
Also, make sure of the cleanliness of the clinic through patients’ comments, and check the pictures posted on the clinic’s online account before and after the injection. If the results are satisfactory to you, you can book, and then make sure the doctor understands what you expect from the injection.
Botox injection results
Full results from Botox injections appear after 10 to 14 days, according to a study published by the US National Library of Medicine in 2016. But you can see the effects of the initial injections as early as 3 to 4 days, and then the bruising and injection scars will disappear.
The strength and durability of results varies based on several factors, such as: the area treated, the frequency of injections, and the dose of Botox.
It appears that the higher the dose injected into an area, the greater the effect on the muscles, so lighter, more “natural” Botox doses may only last 6 to 8 weeks, while higher doses of the substance can last more than 6 months, but Facial muscles paralyzed.
Botox will stop blocking the nerves after 6 months, the muscles will start to contract again, and you will need more Botox injections and sessions to maintain results.