Botox for Wrinkles in 5 Key Areas
Botox is a best-selling muscle-relaxing injectable for many reasons. It’s the only FDA-approved muscle relaxer used to smooth wrinkles and ease your frown lines. There’s no downtime so you can get back to work and play almost right away. And results are fast and long-lasting: you can see a difference in just a few days and will keep seeing a difference for 3-5 months.
Side effects are rare but can include pinpoint to dime-sized bruising that fades in 1-5 days, headache, flu-like symptoms, or nausea.
Botox doses and results for muscles in the face
Five of the 43 muscles in the face can be fully relaxed with Botox without affecting other muscles. The five areas are the forehead, brow furrow, crow’s feet, jaw, and chin. We can adjust several other areas of the face with small amounts of Botox.
1. Forehead
The forehead muscle lifts the eyebrows. With Botox injected, the lifting action is taken away. It’s important to start with a conservative dose of Botox so results are light and natural, and you look refreshed, not frozen. If you have naturally hooded or droopy eyelids, we are careful not to exacerbate this issue with Botox in the forehead. We always treat the furrow lines along with the forehead to keep the eyebrows balanced and the overall look smooth and lifted.
Dose: 4-20 units Results duration: 3-5 months
2. Frown lines (or the elevens)
One of the most important areas Botox can treat is your frown lines, also known as elevens. Wrinkles here form because muscles are pulling down and in and those deep lines become permanent. Botox results are profound and erase those frown lines. You’ll see a lift in the brows, brightening around the eyes and a tightness in the eyelid area.
Dose: 16-30 units Results duration: 3-5 months
3. Crow’s feet
When you smile or squint, crow’s feet show at the sides of your eyes. We target the circular muscle enclosing the eye with Botox to ease those lines and relax the lateral portion that is pulling down and in diagonally. Your crow’s feet will smooth, you’ll get a lift at your eyebrow tail and your eyes will look well-rested and bright.
Simply Injectables:
Dose: 8-24 units Results duration: 3-5 months
4. Jaw muscle
Jaw tension can make your jaw take on a square shape or you may suffer from grinding your teeth or associated headaches. When you bite down, your jaw muscles are activated and they’re strong, the strongest in the mammalian body. If jaw tension is causing problems, Botox can help by relaxing the muscles associated with teeth grinding, jaw tension and related headaches.
Botox stops the jaw muscle from engaging so it starts to shrink. As the jaw muscle shrinks, your face shape relaxes from square to more almond or oval, giving you a thinner, more feminine appearance. It also emphasizes the natural S shape of the cheek bone.
You’ll experience an easing of tension, headaches and teeth grinding at two weeks with results lasting 3-5 months. Aesthetically, you will notice a difference within 8-12 weeks. FDA approval for this treatment is pending.
Simply Injectables:
Dose: 20-40 units Results duration: 3-5 months
5. Chin
Why put Botox in the chin? Some people engage the chin muscle when they talk. Eventually the pucker or cobblestone wrinkles become permanent. Injecting Botox to the area keeps the chin’s skin surface smooth and prevents dimple marks from forming. Just two injections, a total of 4 units of Botox, can stop the adult quiver and prevent cobble stoning wrinkles from ever settling in.
Simply Injectables:
Dose: 4-6 units Duration: 3-5 months
Interesting Facts About Botox Treatments
Who makes Botox?
Botox Cosmetic is manufactured and produced by Allergan, Inc. We purchase all of our Botox, Juvederm, and Voluma directly through Allergan.
What are the side effects of Botox?
Most Botox side effects are minor and short lived.
- Right after receiving your injections, you may have some minor redness and swelling at the insertion point. This is typical and usually resolves within 30 minutes, but sometimes can last slightly longer.
- Another, less common, side effect is bruising. Bruising usually resolves like any other bruise.
- A rare few may experience flu-like symptoms and/or a headache.
- Some rare side effects are listed on Allergan’s website.
Feel free to ask any questions you have during your consultation. We are here to inform you and to make you feel comfortable.
Do the Botox injections hurt?
If you’re anxious about your appointment, it’s understandable, especially if this is your first experience with Botox injections. If injections are uncomfortable, it is usually the result of this anxiety more than the needle itself. Most new patients respond, “That was all?” or, “I can’t believe how easy that was.”
Most patients do fine without numbing creams or ice but if you are highly sensitive to needles and injections, we have the appropriate measures in the office to make your experience more enjoyable.
A few more details
- After your consultation, injections usually take 10- 15 minutes.
- Most patients begin seeing results within three days with full results within two weeks. We ask that you wait the full two weeks before deciding if you need more or would like a touchup.
- The lifetime of your Botox is dose dependent. The higher the dosage, the longer the Botox will last. Botox has a duration indication of 3-4 months with patients doing 20 units in the glabellae (frown lines) and 24 units around crow’s feet. We can achieve fantastic results without the indicated dosages as long as you understand that your treatment will wear off more quickly.
- The number of units you’ll need depends on you and the area you’re looking to treat, the results you hope for, and the length of time you want your Botox to last. The average dose of Botox in the United States is around 37 units. The average at Simply Injectables is 28 units.