The Art of Natural Botox: Why Skilled Practitioners Make All the Difference

The Truth About Botox: Beyond the Media Misconceptions

Many people, millions in fact, love getting Botox treatments.  However, because of how Botox is portrayed in the media as creating an unnatural look it is something that some people fear.  Botox has gained in popularity since its initial discovery and is now the most popular nonsurgical cosmetic treatment in the world.  Unfortunately, we see many people with crazy looking brows and frozen faces because of the trend of inexperienced and poorly trained practitioners offering these treatments.  When done properly and by a skilled practitioner, nothing beats Botox.

Botox, like many medical discoveries, happened accidentally.  I first learned about Botox to treat wrinkles in the late nineties.  I attended a lecture given by Dr. Jean Carruthers at the annual meeting of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.  Dr. Carruthers, an ophthalmologist, had been using Botox to treat patients with blepharospasm.  Blepharospasm is a condition where people have uncontrollably twitchy eyelids.  Dr. Carruthers was injecting Botox into the muscles around the eye that cause the twitching.  One of her patients came back to her telling her that she was happy that her twitching was better and she was ecstatic that the wrinkles around her eyes were softer.  She begged Dr. Carruthers to inject her forehead.  As chance would have it, Dr. Carruther’s husband is a dermatologist.  Over dinner they discussed Botox and how it could be used to treat a variety of wrinkles.  When I returned to my office I treated my nurses frown lines.  The results were like magic.  Thus, a star was born.

How Botox Works: The Science Behind Natural-Looking Results

Botox is in a class of medicines knows as neuromodulators.  Dysport and Xeomin are two other similar drugs currently FDA approved (with several others expected to be approved in 2019).  They all work in a similar fashion sort of like a mute button on a phone.  They block the signal from a nerve telling a muscle to contract.  Botox doesn’t act as a filler rather it acts to prevent a muscle from repeatedly folding the skin which creases the skin.  Once you stop folding the skin, the lines soften over time.  Most people receive treatment about three times per year to maintain the results.

When done properly, by skilled hands, the results with neuromdulators can be amazing.  The goal is to create a natural, refreshed look.  A frozen face in not natural and is not the goal.  In my experience people not only feel better about their appearance but, because they don’t look angry, they find others respond more positively.  People in sales have told me their sales numbers go up.  There are also published studies that show improvement in depression.  The most common areas we treat are the frown lines, crow’s feet, and forehead.  There are other areas that we treat on the lower face and neck.  The key is that everyone’s face is different and the treatment must be customized to the individual.

If you have been considering Botox or have received treatment by an unskilled practitioner receiving unsatisfactory results and want to explore Botox again we are happy to help. We look forward to seeing you soon.

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