Botox Facts You Should Know:

·        Preventative Botox procedures involve injections to your face to prevent the development of wrinkles.

·        Botox tends to have no lasting side effects, provided it is administered by trained professionals. Some minor side effects are bruising, swelling, and pain. Botox may have toxic effects in some cases, leading to complications like muscle weakness.

·        Preventative Botox is a simple, quick, and convenient procedure. However, we recommend having a trained plastic surgeon or dermatologist handle your procedure instead of a clinic or a day spa.

·        Your insurance won’t cover Botox treatments. The treatment costs range between $400 - $700.

·        Preventative Botox won’t prevent wrinkles completely but will minimize their effect on your appearance.

Preventative Botox

It’s a treatment used for preventing wrinkles where botox or botulinum toxin is injected into your face to slow down signs of visible aging. Preventative Botox procedures are done before fine lines or wrinkles become visible. Botox happens to be the most popular cosmetic treatment performed in the US.

Dr. Robert Sheffield, a renowned board-certified cosmetic surgeon, says that Botox Santa Barbara procedures carried out before your fine lines become fully visible can slow them down immensely. He recommends individuals in their 20s or early 30s, who have started seeing faint lines, to go for a preventative Botox procedure.

Cost

Botox procedures aren’t cheap nor are they covered by most insurance policies if they are done for ‘prevention’ or cosmetic purposes. Dr. Sheffield states that Botox can cost as much as $500 per treatment area, which varies depending on your provider’s level of expense and your geographical location. Some places may be less expensive but the risk of developing complications is higher in such places.

However, Botox treatment providers are pretty upfront about their costs. They aren’t any hidden costs or charges. The treatment takes just 4 hours and you can return to your job right away without having to rest.

Appointments take just 10 – 30 minutes as well. Instead of spending thousands on preventive beauty treatments or wrinkle creams, Botox can actually be a better investment of time and money.

How Does Botox Work?

Skilled plastic surgeons like Dr. Sheffield of Robert W. Sheffield, MD FACS – Plastic Surgery Santa Barbara are of the opinion that preventative Botox can stop the emergence of wrinkles in the first place.

Botox blocks nerve signals transmitted to the facial muscles responsible for facial expressions. Since wrinkles occur due to the excessive repetitive movements of these muscles, Botox can limit these expressions to prevent wrinkles from taking over your face.

Botox should not be confused with dermal fillers – a treatment that injects collagen substitutes or gel to firm up your skin.

Botox relaxes your facial muscles by blocking nerve cell responses that make your face do certain expressions. When your face repeats expressions excessively, it causes the emergence of wrinkles, which can be prevented using Botox.

Botox Procedure

It’s a relatively straightforward procedure. Consult your healthcare provider before going ahead with the treatment to resolve your doubts. You can also talk about the possible complications and side effects of Botox treatments.

During the procedure, you will be made to lie down and relax. You will then be requested to make certain facial expressions like furrowing or raising your eyebrows, which will make your fine lines and facial muscles more visible. This allows the person administering the injection to do it at the right site. It’s a slightly painful injection and most people will require more than 1 shot.

After the injections are administered, a few bumps may pop on at the injection site for 30 minutes or so. You must maintain your face in an upright position for a minimum of 4 hours. We strongly recommend against engaging in strenuous exercise after the procedure.

Targeted regions

Botox injections are generally administered in the lines above the forehead, around the eyes, and between the eyebrows. Both standard and preventative Botox procedures target these sites.

Botox can also be used to prevent ‘smile lines’ from popping up around the chin area or the lips. However, dermatologists generally recommend dermal fillers to resolve issues in these areas instead of resorting to Botox.

What results can you expect?

The recovery period is surprisingly quickly. Any bumps that arose at the injection site should disappear after 30 minutes. You shouldn’t lie down or engage in strenuous exercise for several hours after the procedure to ensure the treatment works as intended. Some bruising can be expected.

Botox starts showing visible results around 4 – 7 days after the procedure.

After the treatment, you’ll observe a tightening on your facial muscles with the fine lines of your face becoming less prominent. Preventative Botox does not offer any permanent results.

Botox injection results generally start wearing off after 12 weeks from the date of treatment. No lifestyle changes are required after the treatment. However, follow-up appointments can be useful in determining their effectiveness, which can be done once every 3 months.

Preventative Botox can also help you reduce the number of Botox procedures you’ll need down the road. As preventative Botox happens to be a fairly new concept, there’s not much information on how effective it is at staving off wrinkles. Since Botox does not offer any permanent results, you will need further treatments to prevent wrinkles, just like a regular Botox procedure.

How To Prepare for Botox

You don’t have to do anything specifically for your Botox procedure. Although you may feel like taking ibuprofen or aspirin to reduce your discomfort or pain, those OTC pain medications are blood thinners that should not be taken for at least 7 days before the Botox treatment. You can request your doctor for medications or herbal supplement recommendations that can be taken before the appointment.

The treatment provider will cleanse your skin before the treatment. We recommend not wearing any makeup before the procedure to make it go faster.

Best Way To Find A Botox Treatment Provider

Your preventative Botox treatment provider will have the greatest impact on how successful your treatment is going to be. Consult a plastic surgeon or cosmetic dermatologist with a few years of experience. While they may be slightly expensive, they will also have the skills to carry out the procedure without any complications. You can rely on consultations, word-of-mouth reviews, and online reviews to select your preventative Botox treatment provider.

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