Aesthetic treatments based on the botulinum type A neurotoxin account for almost half of all minimally invasive cosmetic procedures every year. Botox® Cosmetic was the originator and it remains the most recognized and requested product of this type. It has the research, the history, and the record of safety on its side, and it treats a sign of aging that no other product type can match.
Facial plastic surgeon and otolaryngologist Alexis D. Furze, M.D. offers Botox to his patients who want the age-defying benefits of a fast and safe office treatment that produces results with no time lost to recovery. If you’re new to the world of injectable cosmetic treatments, or if you’re seeking expert care in Newport Beach, contact Dr. Furze and his team for a consultation.
The story of the success of Botox predates its use as an anti-aging treatment. Designed to reduce spasming muscles that interfered with some patients’ eyesight, researchers turned to the botulinum toxin type A, the active microbe that causes botulism. The neurotoxin blocks the release of acetylcholine, a chemical made in the body that prevents muscles from contracting.
Highly purified and enormously diluted for use as a therapy, Botox’s effect is limited to a small area around the point of injection. In the case of eye problems, the injections stopped the spasming muscles, allowing patients to see normally.
As well as eyes and wrinkles, Botox injections have many other clinical uses, including treatments for cervical dystonia, excessive sweating, migraine, and bladder dysfunction.
Many of the lines and wrinkles you develop as you get older result from the changes that occur in your skin, making it thinner, drier, and less elastic. This leads to passive wrinkles, flaws that result from these changes.
Time, however, can take a toll in other ways. Expression lines in your face result from muscle movement under your skin, which simply follows the muscle contours, regardless of how old you are. These muscles can take on a semi-permanent contracted condition, never fully returning to a relaxed state.
Common locations for this type of partial contraction include the so-called “worry lines” between your eyes and on your forehead, as well as crow’s feet and laugh lines beside your eyes.
Since muscle contraction is the root of the problem, then Botox is an obvious answer. Carefully injected into key facial muscles, Botox delivers a temporary, but long-lasting effect that relaxes the muscles causing these troublesome wrinkles that don’t respond to other types of treatment.
Within 72 hours, you’ll see active wrinkles smooth out as Botox takes effect, reaching its fullest effect within a week or two. While results vary by patient, treatments last for three months or more. You may find that even after the effects of Botox are gone that your active wrinkles aren’t as severe as before treatment. In any event, a touch-up treatment restores the relaxed, youthful appearance.
Call Alexis D. Furze, M.D. to find out more about Botox Cosmetic and how it can help you. Dr. Furze and his team can recommend the right anti-aging regimen so you can turn back the effects of time. Book your consultation now.
