Botox For Beginners: What You Need To Know

The renewed resurgence of plastic surgery in the U.S. is being driven by non-invasive procedures. Botox, fillers, and chemical peels are the most popular cosmetic procedures, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS). Their success helped the industry post an impressive three percent increase in all cosmetic surgeries in 2014. Botox treatments alone rose by six percent last year, with a record 6.7 million procedures performed.

 
What's The Appeal?

Because they do not involve cutting or anesthesia, minimally invasive procedures are not nearly as risky or as traumatic as plastic surgery. Most treatments can be completed in under an hour and have few serious side effects. It's no wonder actual surgery is on the decline in favor of these new treatment options. In fact, the two most popular cosmetic surgeries, breast augmentation and nose reshaping, fell from the previous year in 2014.
What Is Botox?
Produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, Botox is the brand name for a neurotoxin that is often linked to food poisoning. This highly diluted version of the toxin can be injected into the face in small doses. When administered by an experienced plastic surgeon, the drug is quite safe and effective for treating moderate to severe brow furrows, lazy eyes, uncontrolled nictitating (blinking), and facial creases or wrinkles.
How Does It Work?
By blocking nerve impulses, the injectable drug causes partial paralysis of certain facial muscles. As a result, those muscles can no longer contract, which prevents new wrinkles from forming and may also soften existing ones. In most cases, it takes between two and four days to notice any cosmetic improvement. These effects are temporary and generally last for a few months. For this reason, most patients who have the treatment are repeat customers.
Pros And Cons
The most obvious advantage of the injectable drug is that it does not require an operation. The procedure can be performed in only a few minutes, and there is absolutely no recovery time. By comparison, it can take months to completely recover from a rhytidectomy, or facelift. In addition, the neurotoxin is a targeted treatment option that can be used to address problem areas, whereas a facelift is a drastic procedure that may tighten areas that do not require attention. Of course, the chemical effects of the drug are only temporary. Patients may require two to three treatments each year.
Which Works Best?
It all depends on the patient. As a general rule, younger people in their 30s and 40s who have minimal signs of aging around the eyes or mouth prefer injections, while older folks in their 50s and 60s may be ready to go under the knife for a more permanent solution. With that said, the marked increase in the former proves that people are less willing to risk surgery when they have a minimally invasive option that works.
Now the most popular cosmetic surgery procedure, Botox can help you turn back the clock without a single incision