Don’t wait until it’s too late (for Botox)

I consider myself primarily a medical dermatologist, but I am trained in cosmetics and offer some services to my patients for convenience. I often get questions about Botox, and sometimes I have to disappoint people by telling them Botox will likely not be able to smoothen their lines.

Why is this? Botulinum toxin binds to receptors on the targeted muscle and relaxes the muscle, so it temporarily (3-6 months) cannot move. Botox will only remove lines that are present when you are moving your face. If you look in the mirror and see lines when your face is not moving- then these lines will either take time to go away (after several treatments over many months) or they will never go away.

I don’t push people to undergo cosmetic procedures they don’t want or need, but I have come to appreciate the preventive nature of Botox. If you start having Botox treatments before you have lines you can see, then you may never develop the deep lines in your forehead and between the eyes (until you stop the treatments). So if you are thinking about Botox, don’t wait until it’s too late. It is a very safe, quick and relatively painless procedure when performed by a knowledgeable injector.