On May 17, this space talked about the skin’s layers and what each one does for us. When you have some understanding of how the skin is structured, you can more easily understand why it starts to look older and how it can be rejuvenated.

In this youth-worshipping age, many people are unhappy when the years start to show on their skin. At The Cosmetic Surgical Center, we have many people coming for procedures like facial fillers and BOTOX® Cosmetic. Both of these can smooth out lines and wrinkles, but they work in completely different ways

Small facial lines are one of the first signs of aging. They may appear first as glabellar (frown) lines or crows’ feet and by age 45 or so, they have increased their repertoire to include nasolabial folds, smile lines, and laugh lines.

Treating Frown Lines

As you can deduce from their names, one of the biggest contributing factors to wrinkles is repeated facial expressions. When we use those same muscles hundreds of times daily, they shape the skin over them. BOTOX® Cosmetic addresses this aspect of facial wrinkles. It works by paralyzing the muscle where it is injected so that it cannot receive messages from the brain telling to contract.

It is not injected into the tiny muscles of the skin’s middle layer, the dermis. It is injected into larger muscles beneath the skin’s subcutaneous tissue. To smooth out frown lines, Dr. Rai injects into the Corrugator supercilii, a diagonal muscle beneath the eyebrows that pulls the forehead skin inward to form glabellar (frown) lines. After such an injection, the Corrugator supercilii cannot contract for three or four months, which keeps the skin above it relaxed. Repeat treatments can extend this so that your frown lines are much less visible.

Treating Forehead lines

BOTOX® Cosmetic is also very effective in smoothing out horizontal forehead lines. It is injected into the Occipitofrontalis muscles that wrinkles the forehead and raises the eyebrows. Now the forehead skin remains relaxed, and again, repeat treatments will gradually discourage this muscle from contracting so often, giving you a more youthful-looking forehead for the longer-term.

BOTOX® Cosmetic is the most popular non-invasive cosmetic surgery procedure and has been for several years. It is a quick and easy procedure and there is no downtime afterwards. It can also be used for crows’ feet, fine lines around the lips and perhaps other wrinkles, depending on the individual case.

Please watch this space next week for how facial fillers work. If you would like to schedule a free consultation with Dr. Rai, please contact our Dallas, Texas office today.