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Botox
Procedure - Botox (or Botulinum Toxin, as it’s known in the scientific community) is a substance which causes temporary paralysis of the muscles. Using a very fine needle, botox is injected under the skin and into the muscles. By paralyzing specific muscles under the skin, surgeons are able to greatly reduce and even utterly remove wrinkles. Most commonly, botox is used to minimize wrinkles around the eye (“crow’s feet”), around the lips, on the forehead, and to get rid of frown lines. Botox is also used to lift certain facial areas, like eyes and eyelids, eyebrows, or lip contours. wrinkles and lines take about two weeks to disappear completely. When injected into sweat glands, botox stops excessive sweating by temporary paralyzing the sweat secretion mechanism. In all cases, results are not immediate and it requires a few treatments to see maximal results.
The effect of the treatments can last up to one year, but sometimes their effectiveness begins to wear off after three months.
Duration - 5-15 minutes.
Anesthesia - no anesthesia required.
Hospital Stay - patients may leave directly after the procedure.
Risks and side effects - Short term side effects can include headache, respiratory infection, flu, drooping of the forehead and eyelids as well as nausea. Less common effects are pain, redness and swelling usually due to the injection itself. Sometimes there can be bleeding, numbness and muscle weakness. Since botox does not remain in the body for longer then a week these symptoms subside rather quickly.
Injectable fillers Procedure - Soft-tissue fillers are substances which can be injected under the skin in order to fill-up wrinkles, creases, or even reshape an area of the face. The various gel like substances are used to plump up the target area, stretching the skin above it, temporarily restoring a smoother, more youthful-looking appearance. Most commonly, injectable fillers are used to remove wrinkles around the eyes and lips, eliminate deep folds extending from the nose to the mouth (nasolabial folds) and to plump-up and reshape the lips, cheeks and chin. The most famous of all fillers are collagen or fat, which can be either bovine or the patient’s own. Other more long-lasting common fillers are Outline and Radiesse. Radiesse contains calcium hydroxyl apatite particles suspended in a water based solution. On top of all the above, it can also be used to fill in certain scars. It is biocompatible, non-toxic and is non-allergenic. Regardless of the chosen filler, the results are never permanent as either substance is eventually metabolized by the body. Collagen and fat last for few months at a time, Radiesse lasts for up to 2 years, and outline lasts for up to 5. Treatment will have to be repeated in order to maintain life-long results.
Duration - no longer than 1 hour
Anesthesia - local anesthetic.
Hospital Stay - patients may leave when treatment is finished.
Risks and side effects - Allergic reaction is the primary risk of collagen. Other very rare risks include infection, abscesses, open sores, peeling of the skin, lumping and scarring of the skin. There is no reaction to the fat used because fat is harvested from the patient themselves and use it for their injections.
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