How BOTOX® can Provide Long-Lasting Results

Tuesday, November 15th, 2022

For many years, BOTOX® has been helping reduce fine lines and wrinkles around eyes, across the forehead, and in a few other places. There are few side effects, minimal risks, and nearly zero recovery.

The results from BOTOX® injections appear within a few days after the treatment session. Although the benefits and effects from BOTOX® are considered temporary and generally begin to fade between 5-6 months after treatments, with recurring treatments, results of BOTOX® might be seen much longer than that.

BOTOX® is the name of the naturally occurring protein OnabotulinumtoxinA. When injected into specific muscles, it blocks the nerve impulses causing muscle contractions and movement. This loss of function reduces the action of the muscle on the skin and tissues of the face.

Over time, this protein is metabolized by the body, and the muscles are able to contract again. This averages, in our practice, about 6 months after each treatment session. However, with repeat treatments, the time between treatments can grow while still seeing the same results.

Just like needing to go to the gym or exercise to maintain muscle strength elsewhere in the body, if the muscles in the face go long enough without contracting or moving, they will begin to lose their strength and atrophy. That is why we recommend that you note when muscle function first starts to reappear after your last treatment and come in for retreatment. You then should thereafter come in a few weeks earlier before the muscle function starts for the next one to two years. This allows the muscle to significantly atrophy.  Although you may still need follow-up appointments and treatments to see the same results, you should be able to go much longer between each appointment thereafter.

Dr. Robert Buchanan at the Center for Plastic Surgery in Highlands, NC, is a board-certified and nationally recognized expert doctor of plastic surgery. Dr. Buchanan and his team can answer all of your questions about BOTOX® or other treatment options to help you reach your aesthetic goals.

Call the office at 828-526-3783, or visit www.plasticsurgerytoday.com to schedule a consultation.