Botox treatments are a popular cosmetic treatment option because they are effective at removing wrinkles that form when you move your face. Dermal fillers are also popular, but these are for wrinkles that are always present rather than wrinkles that only show when you smile or frown. When used together, these injections can give you a temporary facelift. Botox treatments can even be used to help with a banded and wrinkling neck. Here's a look at how these neurotoxin injections work to give you a more youthful appearance.
The Injections Work On your Neck Muscle
Botox can be injected into the platysmal muscle in your neck. This muscle is responsible for neck bands and pronounced jowls. When you get an injection of the neurotoxin, the muscle is paralyzed so it relaxes and makes your neck bands fade from view. This doesn't happen right away. Instead, it takes a couple of weeks to notice the results.
One reason the injections work so well for your neck is that the skin on your neck is thin, so relaxing the platysmal muscle under your skin can make a big difference in the way your neck looks. However, Botox doesn't tighten skin or eliminate permanent horizontal wrinkles. You can combine dermal fillers for wrinkles and a skin-tightening treatment to get an even more youthful neck appearance.
Botox Treatments Eliminate Many Facial Wrinkles
You can get the injections around many places on your face. Where you see lines form when you smile or frown is where you may want to have the neurotoxin injected to stop muscle movement that creates wrinkles. The injection is not appropriate for deep marionette lines since those wrinkles are permanent. Those wrinkles can be treated with a dermal filler instead.
Botox Injections Can Plump Your Lips
The neurotoxin injections can even be used to give you plumper lips in a procedure known as a lip flip. The injections are given along the top of your top lip to relax the muscle that goes around your mouth. As the muscle relaxes, it flips up and makes your top lip look fuller. Plus, the bow shape is accentuated. The injections also help with fine wrinkles around your lips.
You may prefer these injections over dermal fillers which might give your lips too much of a pout. A Botox treatment is more subtle at increasing the size of your upper lip.
You may need the help of a cosmetic doctor or esthetician to help you decide where you need neurotoxin injections and where you need dermal fillers. You can get Botox alone and see an improvement in your appearance, but whether you'll need or want complementary treatments depends on the type of wrinkles you have and how deep they are.
Contact a dermatologist or cosmetic surgeon near you to learn more about Botox treatment.
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