Botox: How Does It Work?

Botox is an injectable muscle relaxer that combats wrinkling i.e. wrinkled appearance of the skin. Essentially, it temporarily paralyzes the underlying muscle by a localized injection of Type A botulinum toxin, especially the much popular Onabotulinumtoxin A.

Botox was initially approved by the USFDA in 1989 for specific eye muscle problems, including blepharospasm. In 2002, the USFDA also approved it for cosmetic procedures, namely the Botox treatment.

Presently, it has emerged as a safe, minimally-invasive treatment that has shown credible results for yjr effective removal of wrinkles and fine lines of the skin that surrounds the eyes. It can also be used to remove frown lines between the eyebrows.

Preparing For The Treatment

Being a nonsurgical procedure with minimum equipment, the patient can undergo in-office treatment with minimal preparation. In fact, the most critical part of the preparation is disclosing relevant information from the medical history including present or previous allergies and skin ailments. Furthermore, Botox treatment can only be provided by a licensed physician, nurse, or physician assistant.

At most, the patient may be advised to remove all makeup and properly cleanse the skin which shall be subject to the treatment. It is also possible that the patient may be instructed to avoid blood-thinning medication like aspirin. This helps in reducing the risk of bruising during the procedure.

The Treatment

Botox treatment hardly takes 10 minutes and involves the administration of 3-5 injections of tiny quantities of botulinum toxin type A. The injections may be made in the targeted area that lies between the eyebrows or 3 injections may be administered at the corners of each eye to remove the appearance of crow’s feet.

The Recovery

The treatment does not involve any bed rest or long periods of recovery. Infact, Injections of botulinum toxin have usually been well tolerated by patients and very few have reported any unmanageable side effects.

The only concern has emerged in certain rare cases where individuals have either been non responsive or developed an immunity to Botox, making subsequent treatments ineffective. Apart from that, most patients have stated improved appearance of the face.

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