|
The Botox treatments consist of an examination and a few questions about what your expectations are from the outcome of the Botox injections. From here the surgeon will determine which muscles on your face to treat with the Botox compound to get the desired results.
We are just a bit ahead ourselves as first we need to understand what exactly Botox is and how it works. Botox is known by its chemical name of Botulinum toxin A of which there are 7 types but only 2 are used in cosmetic procedures that includes type A and type B. This Botulinum toxin A is a neurotoxin which is produced from the Clostridium botulinum bacteria which also makes the food poisoning that causes botulism. The neurotoxin’s only goal is to paralyze the muscles of its host. When Botox was first developed back in the 1970’s it was intended to be used as a means of preventing squinting in children. Later it was found to stop muscle spasms due to its paralyzing capabilities. The muscles spasms that Botox was used to prevent were things like stuttering. At one point the Botox injection became used to prevent forceful involuntary blinking of the patient’s eyelids. After several new issues on the face that Botox was found to remedy it was noticed that the patients looked younger and their wrinkles and folds became invisible. This marked the start of the Botox era for wrinkle reduction.
So when you go into a clinic to receive a Botox injection, the surgeon takes this Botox neurotoxin which has been purified and diluted as well as had an anesthetic agent added to it and begins injecting the Botox directly into the muscles. By injecting directly into the muscles the surgeon’s goal is to prevent migration of the Botox which paralyzes the muscles.
The recovery period after the injections lasts only a few minutes and you can even return to work immediately. Your surgeon will have you do a few facial exercises to see the extent of the procedure as well as give you a list of suggestions to help prevent the migration of the neurotoxin to muscle groups that do not need to be treated. This list will include how to clean your face after the procedure as well as precautions regarding touching or massaging your face for the next 24 hours. You will also not want to lie down for at least 5 hours after the procedure and refrain from any strenuous exercises for the next day or so following you Botox treatment. |
