Wrinkles and fine lines are an inevitable result of aging. Even people who take meticulous care to avoid skin damage are bound to experience changes to their facial features. Lines around the mouth, nose and the eyes can reveal a person’s age, or even cause them to look older than they really are. Not all individuals who are unhappy with signs of aging are quite ready to undergo a surgical procedure.
Cosmetic surgeon Dr. Joseph Berardi is a leader in performing Scottsdale Botox. Dr. Berardi offers a number of minimally invasive facial rejuvenation treatments that can help patients maintain a youthful look without ever stepping foot in an operating room. If you are interested in subtle, yet visible, enhancement of your facial features, read through the paragraphs below to learn how getting Botox in Scottsdale can help.
Who is a good candidate for Botox?
Botox is typically administered to patients who are exhibiting signs of aging on the face. Botox is a minimally invasive procedure that is meant to address mild to moderate wrinkles. More severe wrinkles, sagging skin or facial folds may require a more extensive procedure such as brow lift or facelift in Scottsdale. During a comprehensive consultation, Dr. Berardi will evaluate your skin and overall health to determine if you are a suitable candidate for Botox.
How does Botox Work?
Botox is a neuromodulator. When it is injected into a muscle it blocks the nerve signals that are sent from the muscle to the brain. These are the messages to contract a muscle, for instance. When Botox blocks these messages, the brain never receives them, so it never initiates the contraction, and the muscle stays at rest and relaxed.
Since wrinkles on the upper third of the face are caused by repeated muscle contractions under the skin, Botox stops these muscles from contracting for around four months. This keeps the wrinkles from forming.
You can see how this would have other applications. In fact, Botox was first approved for the treatment of involuntary eyelid spasms in 1989. Its uses have continued to expand, and Botox is now used for treatment of temporomandibular joint disorder, migraine headaches, and even excessive underarm sweating and urinary incontinence.
What Can I Expect During My Botox Treatment?
During your Botox appointment, Dr. Berardi may administer ice or a numbing cream on the area that will be treated. He will then inject the Botox into pre-determined locations where signs of aging are visible. The most common locations for Botox injections include near the outer corners of the eyes, between the brows and on the forehead. You may experience minimal discomfort, but most patients find the procedure to be completely painless. Botox treatment typically lasts about thirty minutes, although it can take even less time in some cases. Botox will start working with 72 hours and will take full effect in two weeks.
How many Botox sessions will I need?
Botox requires just a single session that only takes 15 minutes or so with Dr. Berardi. For some patients, as they repeat sessions when Botox runs its course in four months, future sessions require less Botox to fully relax the muscles. The injected muscles can be less rigid.
What is the recovery like after Botox?
The beauty of Botox treatment is that is requires virtually no recovery or downtime. While you may experience minor redness, swelling, discomfort or a headache after treatment, you will be able to resume your normal activities immediately. You may resume exercise the next day. This makes it a convenient procedure for individuals who are on the go. In fact, Botox and other injectable treatments such as Juvederm have been referred to as “lunchtime facelifts.” Should you have questions concerning your Botox experience, you can contact Dr. Berardi around the clock to address any of your concerns.
What results should I expect from my Botox?
Botox keeps the muscles that are creating your crow’s feet, the dreaded 11s between your eyebrows, and forehead lines relaxed for about four months for most patients. This can vary somewhat based on the patient’s metabolism. These are very satisfying results, and they explain why Botox has a huge worldwide following.
After about four months, your body will absorb the now-inert botulinum toxin and the muscles will begin to contract again, and the wrinkles will return. Another Botox session with Dr. Berardi at this point will maintain your results.
How long will my results from Botox last?
Botox erases or dramatically lessens crow’s feet, frown lines, and forehead lines for about four months.
How is Botox different from dermal fillers?
Patients often clump Botox in with dermal fillers such as Juvéderm and Radiesse (that we also offer at Berardi Aesthetics), but they are different in how they work and even the type of wrinkles that they erase.
As mentioned above, Botox is a neuromodulator. Made primarily from the botulinum toxin type A, when Botox is injected into a muscle it temporarily stops that muscle from contracting. It does this by blocking the nerve messages that are sent from the muscle to the brain. The brain doesn’t receive the message to contract the muscle, so the muscle remains at rest.
This is important for treating wrinkles and lines on the upper third of the face, the expressive area. Wrinkles form in this area due to muscle contractions under the skin when we make common expressions such as frowning, squinting, showing surprise, and others. Go ahead, make a frown and you can feel the muscles around your eyes, between your brows, and on your forehead engage. Over time and hundreds of thousands of these contractions, wrinkles start to form on the surface skin when we make these expressions. These are known as “dynamic” wrinkles. When Botox is injected into a muscle that forms, say, crow’s feet at the outside of your eyes, the botulinum toxin keeps the muscle from contracting so the wrinkles that form on the skin above the muscle are erased.
Dermal fillers are completely different. Fillers, as their name implies, are injected and simply “fill” in the space under a wrinkle or area of volume loss. The skin is then pushed up and the wrinkle is erased. The most popular dermal fillers, such as the Juvéderm and Restylane lines, are made from hyaluronic acid. Hyaluronic acid is a naturally occurring substance in our bodies that is responsible for hydrating, plumping, and firming the skin. When injected beneath a crease or line, the hyaluronic acid in these fillers binds with nearby water molecules, hydrating and plumping the area and pushing the skin back up.
Dermal fillers only work on what are known as “static” wrinkles. These are wrinkles that form due to sun damage, declining collagen production, personal habits such as smoking, and other causes. Unlike dynamic wrinkles, static wrinkles show themselves at all times and have no relationship with muscle contractions.
Botox has no effect on static wrinkles, and dermal fillers have no effect on dynamic wrinkles.
What are the potential risks with Botox?
Ever since it was approved for aesthetic use by the FDA in 2002, Botox injections have been the most popular cosmetic procedure, surgical and non-surgical, around the world every year. That’s quite a run, and it shows the popularity and effectiveness of Botox.
Botox has been injected tens of millions of times around the world with very few reactions. The main possible problem comes if Botox is injected by an inexperienced injector. If Botox is injected into an incorrect muscle, it can cause issues such as a droopy eyelid. That’s why it’s very important to have Botox injected by an expert in facial anatomy who has extensive experience with Botox, such as Dr. Berardi.
Otherwise, the main issues after Botox injections are slight swelling and redness at the injection sites. These usually resolve themselves in a day.
It is important for patients to refrain from rubbing their injection sites for the first 24 hours after their injections. Rubbing the sites can cause the Botox to move to an unintended muscle.
See What Our Patients Are Saying
(Google Review)
"I came in to Dr. Berardi's for an appointment with their Nurse Injector Teresa. She was absolutely amazing! I received botox, and lip filler and the outcome was amazing! She is the sweetest person and is so amazing at what she does!" - Taylor B.(Google Review)
"This is the only place I trust for Botox! I’ve had bad experiences at other types of places like med-spas, but never here. Dr Berardi always does the injections himself and takes the time to go over what I want and do not want, and I always end with perfect results. I love this place." - Katie B.
Schedule Your Consultation At Our Scottsdale Office Today
Botox injections are an ideal treatment for patients who are seeking cosmetic enhancement, but are not quite ready or do not yet need a surgical procedure completed. If fine lines and wrinkles are beginning to take a toll on your appearance, we encourage you to contact our practice at 480.397.0711 to learn more about what Botox can do for you. During your consultation, Dr. Berardi can also discuss the other facial treatments that he offers, including Scottsdale nose surgery, eyelid surgery or fat injections.
