Everyone has lots of socializing to do in December. Work parties, neighborhood dinners, dining out with friends, and the ubiquitous family affairs — for many of us we have more parties this month than the entire rest of the year combined.
Want to look a little younger during all of these soirees? Have Dr. Beaty erase your crow’s feet, the 11s, and your forehead lines with Botox. You can come in today and look great in time for your holiday events.
What is Botox?
Botox is essentially the botulinum toxin type A, the very same bacteria that can cause botulism. But the botulinum toxin is also quite prevalent in the natural world. In fact, head into the north Georgia woods and you’ll find it throughout the forest soil. Way back in the late 1940s, scientists were researching the toxin and found that if it was injected into a muscle in very minute amounts it caused the muscle to stop contracting, to stay at rest. Botox came out of that initial research.
Botox was first used to stop involuntary muscle spasms. In fact, its first FDA approval was in 1996 for the treatment of involuntary eyelid spasms. Since then the FDA has approved Botox for a variety of interesting uses: everything from treating excessive underarm sweating to urinary incontinence, migraine headaches to TMJ disorder.
Of course, the world found out about Botox in 2002 when the FDA approved it for aesthetic use to treat wrinkles on the upper third of the face. The initial approval was for glabellar lines between the eyebrows and forehead lines. In 2013, the FDA added crow’s feet to its approved uses.
How does it work?
Botox works by blocking the acetylcholine in the muscles. This is the nerve messenger that relays instructions to the brain to contract a muscle. By blocking the nerve message sent from the muscle to the brain, the brain never initiates the contraction and the muscle stays at rest.
This is especially important for wrinkles on the upper third of the face, the expressive area. Crow’s feet, the 11s between the brows, and forehead lines all result from decades of muscle contractions when we make expressions such as frowning or showing surprise. As we age and our skin thins, these contractions begin to form wrinkles on the skin above the muscle. These are known as dynamic wrinkles. When Botox is injected into a muscle that creates crow’s feet, for instance, it keeps the muscle relaxed, so the wrinkles at the outside of the eyes don’t form. It takes about four days for Botox to fully relax the muscle. From there its results usually last about four months.
Want to get rid your crow’s feet, the 11s, and your forehead lines for your holiday festivities? Call us today and make a Botox appointment; the session with Dr. Beaty takes just 10-15 minutes. Call us at (770) 753-0053.
