Botox & Fillers
Botox is referred to as one of the greatest inventions of the 21st century. Do you know why? Because Botox is an incredibly powerful weapon in the hands of a plastic surgeon, with no substitute. Botox especially prevents skin aging in facial aesthetics when practiced in accordance with facial muscle movements. When combined with correct filler injections, it can offer very beautiful and natural, non-invasive solutions.
What is the Botulinum Toxin?
Botox is a material produced from the purified form of one of the toxins of Clostridium botulinum bacteria, for medical practices. Even though it has been mentioned as ‘’snake venom’’ among people due to its toxic origins, it has nothing to do with snake venom. The name ‘’Botox’’ is derived from ‘’botulinum’’ (bo) and ‘’toxin’’ (tox). Being a neurotoxin, Botox causes a temporary decrease in muscular activity by blocking nerve activity in the muscles.
Where can Botox be Used?
Since Botox reduces muscular activity, it is used for medical purposes such as eye disorders, blepharospasm (maybe provide the common term here), and dystonia (common term here). Nowadays, Botox is most commonly used for cosmetic purposes such as reducing wrinkles, treating teeth clenching, migraines, and excessive sweating.
I Will Wait until Wrinkles Appear!
This is one of the most common and wrong sentences I hear. Botox is not applied on wrinkles; it is applied to the underlying facial muscles that cause these wrinkles. If you have hyperkinetic (overly active) mimic muscles, timely application of Botox can help prevent skin from breaking and having permanent wrinkles. But once your skin breaks and wrinkles are formed (that is, if you indeed wait for the wrinkles to appear), you can only benefit from the mimic reducing effects of Botox, not its preventative effects. There is not a too early or too late age for Botox! If your facial mimic muscles (between the eyebrows, forehead, around the eyes) are too active, Botox is a must.
Botox for Sweating
Just like reducing the activity of facial mimic muscles, Botox can also reduce the function of sweat glands. For this reason, armpits, hands, and feet can benefit from Botox when there is excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis). Especially when injected into the armpits, temporary prevention of sweating and the accompanying unpleasant appearance and smell is possible.
Botox for Migraines
In the type of migraine called ‘’peripheral migraine,’’ sensory nerves from the skull may get stuck between the muscles and cause headaches. These cases are treated with Botox injection to those specific muscles.
Fillers for the Face
One of elements of facial aging is volume loss. Volume can be added to different parts of the face in order to rejuvenate and beautify an aged face. One of the easiest and quickest ways is filler application. Fillers can be used to make cheekbones more prominent, fill under eye hollows, improve deep nasolabial lines, enhance temporal pits, shape lips, and correct deep lines. Important parameters in fillers are the quality, longevity, naturalness of the product, and planning. For a natural looking result, the right amount needs to be injected in the right depth, together with a good knowledge of bone and soft tissue anatomy of the face.
Durability of Fillers
The most commonly used material in facial aesthetics is hyaluronic acid. Premium quality fillers containing hyaluronic acid usually last between 8-18 months. Fillers which last longer than the due date are not better in quality. On the contrary, these fillers can cause scar tissue (fibrosis) to form when being expelled by the body.
Fillers with longer durability can also be used for the face. Their contents are different from hyaluronic acid and have 2-3 years durability. It is, however, best to stay away from permanent fillers. Our faces change throughout the years. Therefore, a permanent foreign substance in the face will create an artificial look.
Fillers and Artificialness
It is very important to know the anatomy of the face well in facial aesthetics. The aim here should always be to create more attractive and beautiful facial proportions, not just inflating tissues. A well performed filler treatment will not look artificial, on the contrary, it will make your face look more beautiful and pleasant.
Cheap Fillers
The most significant factors in filler price are the amount and the quality of the filler being used. Similarly, to poor-quality filler injections to the lips and the grave harm it causes, the same damage can occur to the rest of the face when the same cheap product is used. Nowadays, there are a lot of cheap alternatives. However, the damage to the tissues by these bad quality products will be more than we imagine. A bad quality filler can cause scar tissue (fibrosis) to form when being expelled by the body. This means permanent unaesthetic deformities can appear. And what we keep hearing from patients with exaggeratedly full and unpleasant looking lips are that they had their lips done three years ago and the filler is still not gone. Well, my expert guess would be that the quality of the product was probably poor. And, my advice would be to please trust an experienced plastic surgeon for this procedure.
What Are the Prices for Fillers and Botox?
Among the factors affecting prices for Botox and fillers are the quantity, the brand of the filler, and the level of specialization of the administering doctor.