Botox Is a Preventative Treatment The more relaxed those muscles are, the less they are moving around creating expression lines and wrinkles. That's how Botox injections can prevent lines and wrinkles from getting worse. But that also means that you'll have to keep using it for the desired result.
If you stop BOTOX treatments after many years of regular injections, the only effect will be that your wrinkles will return, albeit a bit more slowly than if you had not been using BOTOX. It's true: Even after you stop, you will still look younger than you would have if you had never been injected.
Luckily, getting Botox treatments for a long period of time will not have any negative effects, and if you discontinue getting Botox treatments, the worst that will happen is that your fine lines and wrinkles will return over time.
First off, if you were happy with your original result, the best way to maintain that result is to re-treat the area just before your Botox wears off. If you let your Botox wear off completely before your next treatment your injector will basically have to start from scratch.
If you compare your skin during and after this period, you will feel you appear older afterwards as you have been used to seeing your fantastic, smoothed-skin results. But, rest assured, the treatment itself will not make you appear more aged.
It could just be genetic. Inherent metabolism does influence the duration and some people simply metabolize it [Botox] faster. You are very active / exercise frequently. Athletes and intense exercisers tend to metabolize Botox much faster than others.
“Your skin will still look younger, smoother with softer wrinkles as the muscle itself will have weakened over time.” She continued, “You will still look much younger than you would have if you hadn't gotten injected, but you will be at risk of getting wrinkles again as the effect of Botox wears off in 3 to 6 months.”
The fear for some people is that once they stop using the Botox, the wrinkles will actually be worse than they were previously. There is definitely not that case and you can expect the wrinkles to return to exactly as they were prior to treatment.
Again, there's no hard and fast rule about when you should start Botox, but earlier than your mid-20s is probably too early. Certain wrinkles are often genetic, so once you start noticing fine lines that mimic what you see in your older relatives, you might seek treatment.
Many women prefer to postpone Botox® for a later age. However, this isn't the best strategy either for your budget or for your skin. Indeed, women that start Botox® earlier have fewer aging signs after their mid-forties and need less anti-wrinkle treatments overall, be it Botox® or not.
Facial Immobility
If your injector uses too much, it can cause a “frozen” look to your features, rendering them immobile. Too much product in the forehead can cause it to be awkwardly stiff and give you a robotic expression that makes the fact that you've had neuromodulators very obvious.
Alternatives to Botox include different types of injectable neurotoxins and fillers, laser resurfacing, and cosmetic surgeries. Diet and a healthy lifestyle can also help reduce the signs of aging.
Dysport® may therefore be better at treating diffuse, smaller wrinkles, while BOTOX® offers more precise results. Xeomin® differs from BOTOX®, Dysport®, and Jeuveau in the fact that it contains only purified botulinum toxin, with no added ingredients.
The same is true for your face. When Botox is used over a long period of time, the lack of muscle usage causes muscle atrophy which causes the muscle to shrink and sag just like how it would anywhere else on the body. When facial aging occurs over the natural course of one's life, there are many causes at play.
Botox is a protein that is derived from the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. By injecting it into a muscle, it blocks signals from the nerves that cause the muscle to contract, and when muscles can't contract, the dynamic wrinkles caused by facial movements relax and soften, allowing your face to look smoother.
"If you do too much Botox on your forehead for many, many years, the muscles will get weaker and flatter," cautions Wexler, adding that the skin can also appear thinner and looser. Moreover, as your muscles become weaker, they can start to recruit surrounding muscles when you make facial expressions.
One case that may lead to Botox actually accelerating skin aging is if a patient starts treatment too early and too much. Because facial muscles, collagen production, and skin structure overall weaken with age, consistent freezing of your muscles can make them weaker and thinner.
Botox Might Make Skin Visibly Thinner
In these cases, "The skin of the forehead [can] get prematurely thinner, and the muscles weaker," she says. Sometimes, after many years of use, this can even result in the look of heavier brows and eyelids, "making the toxin more difficult to continue using."
The most common side effects associated with Botox injections are minor and temporary, such as swelling, redness, and bruising. However, if you have a history of liver disease, you may be at an increased risk of more serious side effects, including nerve damage, muscle weakness, and even liver damage.
“If you're starting with skin that's healthy, your Botox and fillers will last longer,” contends Dr. Peredo. Her medicine-cabinet recommendations include products that contain retinol, hyaluronic acid, peptides and antioxidants. “Having good skin care will also help extend your results.
They relax muscles that cause wrinkles, prevent new lines from forming, and can even “train” the muscles away from future wrinkles. The best Botox for forehead lines lasts 4-6 months with regular treatments; however, people who receive regular injections can expect longer-lasting results over time.
Zinc is known to play a role in the repair of damaged skin, and it is also thought to help strengthen and tighten the skin, which can make the results of Botox treatment appear more noticeable. It has been reported that Zinc can make the effects of Botox last up to 30% longer.