Botox® is an immensely popular cosmetic treatment, with 4.4 million people choosing it in 2020 alone. So there’s a good chance that even if you haven’t had a Botox injection, you likely know someone who has had one or more. This cosmetic injection has been a go-to for smoothing out wrinkles and fine lines for years, but if you get one, how do you know when you need to go back and get a touch up treatment? How long does a treatment last? To find out more, let’s look at how Botox affects your body, the cosmetic uses for it, and how frequently treatments are administered.
Residents of the Houston, Texas area looking for quality Botox treatments receive great care from Dr. Justine Taube at The Elite Wellness Resort. We offer a wide variety of medical and cosmetic treatments to help you feel better about how you look.
Botox is the common name for the protein made from the Botulinum toxin (produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which also causes botulism in much larger uncontrolled doses), which has unique properties in both medical and cosmetic treatments. In small, injectable doses, Botox is used to safely weaken and paralyze specific muscles and was in fact originally used to treat crossed eyes (strabismus) in the 1970s. Before its use for cosmetic purposes, doctors used Botox to treat conditions like blepharospasm and cervical dystonia. Even after approval for cosmetic use in 2002, Botox has enjoyed medical use for axillary hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), chronic migraines, and urinary incontinence.
When it comes to cosmetic use, Botox is often a top choice for eyebrow wrinkles (also called frown lines, glabellar lines, or elevens), wrinkles around the eyes (crow’s feet), horizontal forehead creases, lines around the corners of your lips, and “cobblestone” chin. Dr. Taube injects Botox with a thin needle into the area needing treatment, and injections can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and fine lines in the future even after the injection wears off. The procedure times will vary depending on what’s being done, and may vary from just 10 minutes to a half hour. You can expect to see results in just one to five days.
In general, these injections last between four to six months, but the timeframe may vary. Important factors to determine how long they last include the location of the injection, how much Botox is used, your age, the elasticity of your skin, and the depth of your wrinkles. However, the more frequently you get injections, the longer each treatment may last, due to the muscles getting shorter and smaller from being relaxed routinely by the injection.
You shouldn’t go any sooner than three months between treatments, and you can go as long as six months between them if you’re getting them regularly. Other steps to help keep the skin healthy between treatments include wearing sunscreen, avoiding smoking, drinking plenty of water, using moisturizers, using gentle skin cleansers, and maintaining a healthy diet.
So whether you’re going back for a follow-up treatment, or choosing it for the first time, Botox is a safe way to say goodbye to wrinkles. If you’re ready for Botox, make an appointment with Dr. Taube and the Elite Wellness Resort today.
