What’s The Worst That Can Happen? (Forehead Lines)
Whether you’re Kim Kardashian or Simon Cowell everybody’s go-to non- surgical beauty treatment is Botox®! The action of targeting muscles in the face and neck to help reduce fine lines and wrinkles, by blocking the chemical that allows muscle movement.
But how safe is Botox® you ask? What’s the catch?
Unwanted Spread of Botox®
As an injector, we make sure we target specific muscles for treatment, but sometimes, no matter how careful we are we can get some unwanted spread of Botox® to other areas. Usually, this is when someone fails to listen to post-treatment instructions and rubs in that expensive night cream or does that home facial massage they learnt on YouTube before bed. On rare occasions, it can be because we are too close to another muscle.
Unfortunately, this spread may cause drooping of an eyelid (1% risk), BUT rest assured at Unndoo our experienced injectors carrying out a thorough consultation and ask you as a client to follow post-treatment instructions strictly to minimise this risk. These effects luckily tend to only last for 1-6 weeks and throughout we can also provide some eye-drops to help speed up the healing process.
Too Much Weakness Of The Muscles – Males = Good. Females = Bad
The face, as you know, is made up of a lot of muscles and the biggest one we target is the frontalis (forehead) muscle, which is solely responsible for lifting the eyebrows AND unfortunately all the horizontal lines across the forehead which we hate. We need to make sure we assess and treat the Frontalis VERY carefully because over-treating it can lead to heavy brows (1% risk), which isn’t a good look on many females (it ages you more!) but is more forgiving in males.
It’s all about finding the right balance in treating the muscles pulling everything down Vs the big muscle pulling everything up (Frontalis)!
Excessive Lateral Brow Elevation – aka “SPOCK”
“To infinity and Beyond!”…..No no….That’s Buzz Lightyear!….Oh yes….“Live Long and Prosper!”
Whilst many may wish to have those iconic eyebrows and spectacular ears, I’m sure the rest of us would like to save that outfit for Halloween or Comic Con (if you can ever get tickets!)
Remember that big muscle pulling everything up; the frontalis, well… if we relax the central part of it from working then it prevents the central part of the eyebrow from lifting. (See where I’m going with this?). However, when this occurs and the outer portion of the frontalis continues working, it causes the outer portions of the eyebrow to lift.
BUT DO NOT WORRY! We can correct this quite simply by injecting a small amount of Botox® at the point of elevation. TA DA!!….Well actually….in a few days….you’re back to looking like regular ol’ Jane, with no wrinkles of course.
In most patients this can all be avoided just by careful assessment – an experienced practitioner should be able to tell you if you’re a possible candidate for Space or not!
The Frozen Look
“Say Cheese!”….Facial Expressions. Showing happiness uses not only your mouth but also your eyes, the crinkling of your eyebrows, the lifting of your cheek muscles….it’s all relevant. The last thing we as injectors want to do is inject too much toxin causing a lack of movement – which in the forehead region can be quite easy to do.
Make sure you discuss your aesthetic goals with your clinician – do you want that frozen look? OR look as natural as possible? We as injectors always try to make sure we find the optimal dosage for each client based on their muscle mass and needs.
We always try to build up from a lower dose over time! Good things come to those who wait!
Every Little Thing Counts – Minor & Temporary Side Effects
Bruising, Swelling, Irritation, Discomfort, little bump– Completely normal!
Unfortunately, we are all human and not miracle workers, so yes we use very, very, very tiny needles to deposit the Botox®, which may cause a little bruising or irritation. Remember that these side effects are usually very minimal and related more to the injection than the Botox® being administered.
Rest assured, all these minor discomforts can be managed by using ice packs, a little time and makeup. Headaches can also be common as everything starts to feel “tighter”, but again analgesics such as Paracetamol tend to manage this side effect.
Allergic reactions to Botox® can happen but your clinician should always take a full medical history beforehand! The key is to know if you’re allergic to egg/cows milk; Albumin is a protein used in Botox® and found naturally in eggs so if you are…stay away and embrace those fine lines!
REMEMBER – The effects of Botox® only last a few months (depending on how active you are), so ANY adverse effects usually only last this duration! Everything gets better with time.
OPEN COMMUNICATION – with your injector; you should be able to contact them if you have any unwanted effects as most of these can be improved upon!
IMPORTANT – to be treated by an injector who understands anatomy and Botox® dosages!
MAKE SURE YOU’RE IN SAFE, TRAINED, PROFESSIONAL HANDS 🙂
Blog Post by Dr Athirai Selvarajah
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