Steps You Can Take to Perpetuate Your Botox Results

You’ve finally taken the plunge into the world of Botox® injections, fulfilling the goals you’ve been dreaming about for so long. While Botox can be an amazingly effective way to combat wrinkles, as you have probably learned by now, you will require touch-up treatments every so often if you hope to maintain your smooth, wrinkle-free eye and eyebrow region.

If your goal is to look younger for as long as possible, you may be wondering if it’s possible to make the results of your Botox injections last longer, and, if so, how you can do this. Read on to learn all about Botox and ideas for prolonging your refreshed complexion.

How Does Botox Work?

Before we provide advice on how to make the effects of Botox persist further, it may be helpful for you to review a primer on what Botox is and how it works. Though Botox is an injectable anti-aging product, it performs a different function than hyaluronic acid-based dermal fillers like Restylane® and Juvederm®, which minimize wrinkles by providing an intensive moisture boost that fills in hollows in the skin. Instead, the goal of Botox is to create temporary muscle paralysis.

When you make repetitive facial expressions such as frowning or smiling, you eventually develop characteristic, permanent grooves as your skin loses the collagen and elastin that make it resilient and full. Botox works by preventing a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine from sending signals to the small muscles around the eye and eyebrow area, which prevents them from contracting.

The product derives from a purified version of the botulinum toxin and has received FDA approval, proving its safety as a treatment method. That’s because the dosage used for cosmetic treatments never has any chance of reaching the bloodstream, and is a tiny fraction of the amount that it would take to be dangerous to humans.

How Long Does Botox Last?

First-time Botox users can usually expect their results to last around four months. If you continue to keep up with your maintenance appointments, you can look forward to longer-lasting effects as your muscles and nerve endings become conditioned to your regimen over time.

Botox prevents muscle contractions, which means it can only reduce and prevent the dynamic wrinkles that form from frowning and smiling. Botox does not provide volume, elasticity, or skin firmness, which is why you can see even more dramatic anti-aging results by combining your regular Botox injections with fillers such as Juvederm and Restylane, or by choosing to combine your injections with other minimally-invasive treatments like Fraxel laser skin resurfacing, microdermabrasion, Ultherapy®, and intense pulsed light treatments.

Enjoy Your Wrinkle-Free Skin for Longer

After you get Botox injections, your full results will reveal themselves five to seven days later. Though the injections can last several months, you may notice that your wrinkles begin to reappear as the treatment “wears off.” If you want to make the time between your treatments last as long as possible, here are three tips you can follow.

1. Go to an Experienced Injector 

Effective, natural-looking Botox injections require the correct dosage and strategically appropriate injection sites for the best results. A qualified, expert injector can not only explain all the specifics of what to expect before, during, and after getting Botox, but will also create a personalized treatment regimen that ultimately results in longer-lasting Botox effects.

2. Flex Those Muscles

After your injections, do a mini facial workout by moving the muscles around the injection sites. Making a range of different expressions such as raising your eyebrows can help distribute the Botox more efficiently throughout your upper face, causing your results to take effect more quickly. Once the Botox kicks in, these expressions won’t make any lasting impact on your skin.

3. Shun the Sun

This note of advice applies to all people who wish to avoid the effects of aging, whether you decide to get Botox or not. Sun damage is the top reason we experience the signs of early aging, and Botox doesn’t turn back the clock on these wrinkles, since they do not involve the underlying muscles. It’s a best practice to apply sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 on your face and any other exposed body parts every day, even if it’s cloudy.

Enjoy Long-Lasting Anti-Aging Effects

If you are interested in Botox injections or other transformative anti-aging procedures in San Francisco, Dr. Seth Matarasso and his talented team are eager to help you. Contact us today to learn more about the benefits of Botox and how to achieve long-lasting results through expert injections.