Botox Patient Information

Relaxation of Wrinkles and Frown Lines:

Botox Patient Information

What is Botox? Is it safe?

  • - Botox is a highly puriﬁed naturally occurring protein produced by fermentation, imported from Ireland.
  • - Botox has been used to treat millions of patients around the world over the past 25 years, for over 140 cosmetic and medical indications.
  • - Approximately 9.4 million Botox cosmetic procedures have been administered in the United States since 2002.
  • - Botox is sometimes used to treat babies for things like clubfoot and cerebral palsy.
  • - The safety margin of Botox is about 100:1—it takes about 100 times the therapeutic dose to poison someone with Botox. The safety margin with other common medications such as aspirin or Tylenol is around 20:1.

How does Botox work?

- Botox works by relaxing muscles where excess muscle tension is causing unwanted negative expressions like frown lines, crow’s feet and forehead wrinkles.

   Most people want relaxation of the muscles, but not complete loss of expression. We can relax the muscles as much or as little as you like.

- Botox is injected into the muscles surrounding the frown lines. Botox works by temporarily weakening these tiny facial muscles in a very precise manner. After treatment, the overlying skin remains smoother, while the untreated facial muscles contract normally, allowing normal facial expression to be unaffected.

- Because the needle used to inject botox is so ﬁne and the amount of liquid is so small, the pain associated with the injection is minimal. Some have compared the sensation to a small bug bite.

- No sedation or local anesthetic is required, and you will be able to drive and engage in all your usual activities immediately after your treatment. Please avoid exercise and alcohol for 24 hours following your treatment. Please do not lie ﬂat for 4 hours after your treatment.

What can expect after my treatment? How long with the effect last?

- You may have slight and temporary bruising of the skin at the injection sites, but otherwise, there will likely be no visible signs of your treatment. Some people notice a mild headache the evening of the treatment.

  Medications that slow the rate of blood clotting (anticoagulants) may increase the risk of bruising. These include aspirin, ibuprofen, Motrin, Aleve, ginseng, ginkgo, high dose vitamin E, St. John’s Wort, coumadin, and plavix. Please do not discontinue prescription medications without discussing with a physician.

- The relaxation from botox comes on gradually over a period of about a week. Full correction occurs in 2-4 weeks.

- Depending on the dose, most people notice that the relaxation from botox starts to wear off after 3-4 months.

- If you have another botox treatment as soon as you notice the botox wearing off, and continue to keep up with treatment in this manner, sometimes the cosmetic beneﬁt will start to last longer than 3 months.