When looking at facial beauty, we first think of taking care of wrinkles and lines. Skin fillers and Botox treatments have been used increasingly over the last 20 years to even out wrinkles and smile lines.
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Restylane treatments
Hyaluronic acid (e.g. Restylane) is naturally found in the human body, but as we age, the amount of it decreases. The effect of hyaluronic acid is based on its ability to bind water in the body, and give shape and volume to the skin tissue. When wrinkles in the skin are not caused by the normal operation of facial muscles, the lines can be evened out with injected hyaluronic acid. The most recognised commercial name of the acid is Restylane. These treatments are completely revertive. The effect of the treatment is instantly visible and lasts for approximately 6–8 months. The most commonly treated areas are the nose and lip fold and the lines at the corners of the mouth. Enhancing the lip line and adding volume to the lips are also popular treatments. The volume of the facial tissue lost due to aging is now also treated by injecting the deeper tissues of the face, which targets the reasons behind lines and sagging tissue. The result is a very natural, fresher and younger look. These deeper volume fillers, e.g. on the cheekbones and the side of the forehead and the jawline, restore and repair those changes on the face brought on by aging, and make facial features more balanced, if needed. The objective is to have patients looking like their natural selves after treatment.
The customer is given local anaesthesia at the surgery, if necessary, because filler injections are often considered to be unpleasant. Local anaesthesia in the area close to the mouth is technically an easy job for oral surgeons, and makes filler injections completely painless.
Botulinum toxin treatments
Botox has been used in health care and beauty treatments for over 20 years. Botox is a safe and efficient protein that diminishes the operation of the target muscle and straightens out wrinkles when administered to facial muscles. The effects start to show 1–2 weeks after the injection and last for about 3–6 months. This procedure is completely revertive. The Botox treatment can be renewed safely once the substance has left the body. Contrary to popular belief, Botox does not cause any sensations of numbness or rigidity of the face. The area where the injections are made may become slightly red or swollen. You can apply makeup directly after the treatment. The most common areas for this treatment include the creases between the eyebrows, horizontal lines on the forehead and the smile lines around the eyes.
Botulin is also successfully used in the strong masticatory muscles to prevent grinding of the teeth. This reduces the operation of the muscle, which often alleviates the pain completely.
Other conditions treated with botulin are chronic migraines, excessive sweating of the forehead, muscle tension headaches, problems with muscles around the mouth and pain in the neck muscles.
Generally, the use of botulin toxin to treat various illnesses has increased significantly in medicine. It is estimated that there are 12–15 million Botox treatments given in the world annually. Despite this large figure, the number of side effects is small, which is why botulin toxin is considered to be a very safe medicinal product.
Combination treatments
The best overall results are achieved by using a combination of the aforementioned fillers and botulin toxin.
When regularly renewed, these treatments maintain the youthfulness of the face evenly, without any surprising changes to the face due to a surgical facelift, for example. Comprehensive youthfulness surgery is usually based on tightening tissues, and the results may seem too sudden and even unnatural to the patients and their loved ones.
The trend over the last few years has been to favour these new treatments over traditional surgical facelifts that are performed less and less.