20 years of Botox: who is it suitable for - and how do you avoid a frozen face?

Botox is a toxin that causes muscle relaxation, thus softening expression lines.

That's why for 20 years millions of people have been using it to fight the appearance of time (and some other surprising uses).

Here's everything you need to know about it

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health

07/26/2022

Tuesday, July 26, 2022, 10:20 a.m

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A hit between the ages of 36 and 50. A man injects Botox (Photo: ShutterStock)

Botox was first approved by the FDA (US Food and Drug Administration) 20 years ago for use in medical or cosmetic conditions.

20 years have passed, and Botox treatment not only remains popular to this day as the leading treatment for expression lines, but has become the most common aesthetic procedure in the world.

According to the American Association of Aesthetics, over 3.6 million Botox injections were performed during 2021, with 63 percent of them being women.

Botox is considered the most popular non-invasive treatment in all age groups tested, but was found to be most popular between the ages of 36-50.

We asked Dr. Liora Hollander - an expert in plastic surgery specializing in face lift and facial sculpting - what is the secret of Botox's popularity, how exactly does it work, and is the ongoing hype around it justified? Here are her answers.

How does Botox work?

Botox (or botulinum toxin) is a treatment that causes muscle relaxation, thereby allowing the softening of expression lines.

"Proper treatment of it can lead to the rejuvenation of the facial appearance and its preservation," explained Dr. Hollander, "Botox temporarily relaxes the muscles that create the wrinkles." The treatment is performed using a thin needle that inserts the substance into the desired areas. Botox treatment is clinical, fast and does not require a period Recovery.

According to Dr. Hollander, starting Botox treatment is not a function of age, but of the state of facial expression lines and our degree of aesthetic sensitivity, that is, how much they bother us.

"The recommendation is to get treatment when the expression lines started to form, and the lines start to appear and bother," she said.

You don't have to take it that far.

Courteney Cox (Photo: GettyImages)

Can Botox prevent new wrinkles?

When you start treating Botox early, you can prevent the deepening of wrinkles, since wrinkles that start as dynamic expression lines - which only appear when expressing - over the years remain fixed on our face even without movement.

"Early treatment with Botox has a preventive role, since it slows down the progress of the deepening of wrinkles and prevents reaching this state," explained Dr. Hollander, "We are witnessing a new generation where awareness of the issue is constantly increasing, the treatments begin in the first stages of the expression lines - and their progression and deepening of the wrinkles has stopped."

Dr. Hollander explains that the secret of the correct treatment is maintaining a natural appearance. "The correct treatment today allows the weakening of wrinkles while maintaining a natural appearance and full facial expressions," she said, adding that correct treatment with Botox is a treatment that on the one hand prevents the wrinkle and on the other hand allows Mobility. To do this, the doctor must understand the structure of the patient's face and adapt the treatment to it. "Understanding the structure, the dosage and the technique will determine the success of the treatment," said Dr. Hollander, "The goal with Botox is to achieve a beautiful treatment result that leverages the appearance of the face , creates an open look, open and expressive eyes, and moderately raised eyebrows, and not just a frozen, expressionless, glossy and exaggeratedly smooth look, like a mummy."

Not for expression lines only

In the past, the classic Botox treatment focused mainly on wrinkles, and especially on the upper third of the face, in the forehead areas, the frown lines between the eyebrows and around the eyes.

"Today, our deep understanding of the treatment allows for much more than just smoothing out wrinkles," said Dr. Hollander, adding that today the use of Botox has greatly developed and additional indications have been added, for additional areas of the face. Here are some examples:

Dr. Liora Hollander (photo: courtesy of the photographed, courtesy of the photographed)

• Lifting eyebrows and opening the eyes: the Botox treatment makes it possible to upgrade the facial features sometimes to the point of postponing eyelid surgery.

• Treatment of marionette wrinkles: those bitter wrinkles at the corners of the mouth that give a bulldog look.

• The weakening of the cervical tendons for a younger and smoother neck.

• Jaw line: improvement of sagging in the jaw line area.

• Weakening wrinkles: the smoking lines above the lips and more.

• Gummy smile treatment: a condition in which a modest smile reveals protruding gums, resulting from thin lips or too short a distance on the cupid's bow.

  Relaxing the muscle by injecting botulinum will limit the swing of the smile and thus the campers will remain hidden.

• Treating the corners of the nose: the tip of the nose can be lifted, thus making it a little more obnoxious and improving its corners.

• Facial sculpting: Botox is also a complementary treatment integrated into the facial sculpting process - facelift without surgery.

And the bonus: Botox also improves your mood

It turns out that in the context of controlling facial expressions there is a big and surprising advantage to Botox.

Our emotions are connected to our facial expressions, and studies show that Botox can change the feedback from the facial muscles to the brain.

Therefore, if we can prevent sullen, angry and bitter expressions and increase smiles and happy expressions, this will have an effect on improving the mood.

By the very fact that we will not be able to express resentment, anger and bitterness - we will feel them less.

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Tags

• Botox

• wrinkles

• Aesthetic medicine