In the aesthetic world, Botox is the undisputed king in both numbers and awareness. Ever since the FDA approved Botox in 2002 for aesthetic use on the upper third of the face, Botox injections have been the single most popular cosmetic procedure, surgical and non-surgical, every year.
Why all the adulation? Botox works.
Dr. Turk offers Botox for his patients from Naples and the surrounding areas.
What is Botox?
Botox is primarily made from the botulinum toxin type A. These are the same bacteria that can cause botulism, and that sounds scary but it’s not. Scientists researching the toxin back in the 1950s discovered that when it was injected into a muscle in very minute amounts the toxin stopped that muscle from contracting for a period of time. Botox was a direct result of that research.
You can see how Botox would be effective for treating problems such as involuntary eyelid spasms, by relaxing the muscle that was spasming. In fact, that was the actual first Botox approval in 1992: to treat involuntary eyelid spasms.
How it works
So, how does Botox erase wrinkles? Certain wrinkles, called dynamic wrinkles, form after we make hundreds of thousands of expressions like frowning, showing surprise, squinting, and the like. To make these expressions, we engage muscles around our eyes, between our eyebrows, and on our forehead. Go ahead, make a frown and you’ll feel the muscles engage. Over time, these repeated contractions form wrinkles on the surface skin above the muscle. These are crow’s feet at the outside of the eyes, the 11s between our eyebrows, and forehead lines.
When Botox is injected into a muscle forming, say, crow’s feet, it relaxes the muscle by blocking the nerve messages being sent from the muscle to the brain. This messenger is called acetylcholine and Botox simply inhibits it. So, the brain never receives the message to contract the muscle, and it stays at rest. Without the contraction, the wrinkle on the surface skin above doesn’t form. Therein lies the magic of Botox.
Botox keeps the muscle at rest for about four months. At that point, the body absorbs the now-inert botulinum toxin and the muscle begins to contract again. Another Botox session with Dr. Turk will maintain your results.
Interested in erasing those crow’s feet or the 11s? Call us at Naples Cosmetic Surgery Center, (239) 348-4357, to make an appointment.