Time catches up with all of us, and, before you know it, you’re seeing fine lines, deep wrinkles, large folds, and sagging skin on your face and neck. While you can’t turn back time, you can turn back the appearance of time, and that’s where aesthetic treatments like Botox® and dermal fillers come in.
At Associates in Family Medicine, Dr. Mahshid M. Hamidi and our staff offer Botox and dermal fillers to our patients who want to look more youthful and rejuvenated. Though these are pervasive options in today’s aesthetics market, we understand that not all providers have the same training and expertise in administering them.
Who you choose to administer these treatments is as important as selecting which option(s) is (are) best for you. Here’s why.
Every time you make a facial expression – smile, frown, raise your eyebrows – the muscles beneath the skin contract, and they pull the skin into the appropriate position. When you release the expression, the skin returns to its original position. At least, it does when you’re young and have a lot of collagen and elastin to shore it up.
As you get older, the skin loses some of its elasticity, and it becomes more difficult for it to return to its original position. This causes fine lines and wrinkles to develop, especially around the mouth, the corners of your eyes (crow’s feet), and your forehead. These are known as dynamic wrinkles because they’re caused by the action of the muscles.
Botox is a neurotoxin derived from a bacterium. It’s the same neurotoxin that causes botulism, or food poisoning. However, in its purified form and in properly trained hands, it’s perfectly safe to use.
Botox prevents the nerves that tell muscles to contract from sending their message. The muscles don’t contract, the skin isn’t pulled, and your face returns to a “resting” state that makes you look much younger.
Results usually last 3-4 months, at which time you can get another treatment.
Static wrinkles aren’t caused by muscle movement. They result from the loss of the structural proteins collagen and elastin, as well as fat, in your face and neck that accompany aging. As the volume under your skin shrinks, you develop deep folds and hollows, as well as lax skin.
Dermal fillers are substances that restore lost volume to affected areas; some even trigger a new wave of collagen and elastin production, maximizing results.
While dermal fillers are made from a number of different materials, at Associates in Family Medicine, we prefer to use the hyaluronic acid (HA)-based options, like Juvéderm™ and Restylane®, because HA is naturally found in the human body and is well-tolerated.
Fillers plump up areas of the face, neck, and hands that have lost volume, filling in lines and folds and restoring fullness. When the hollows are smoothed out, your face takes on a more youthful appearance.
Some fillers can last up to a year or more, after which you can get another treatment.
To maximize your results for either treatment, it’s important to understand both the nuances of facial anatomy and the correct placement of the substance. For example, Botox injected into the wrong muscle will paralyze that muscle instead of the targeted one, leading to droops in odd places and no improvement in the treatment area.
Fillers injected into the wrong part of the lips, say, can make them look fat or asymmetric, leaving the patient with an unappealing look for a year or so.
Administering Botox and fillers is as much an art as it is a science, and the administrator needs to combine the knowledge gained in ongoing, special training with an aesthetic eye to meeting patients’ needs. Dr. Hamidi has the necessary certification and aesthetic sense to accurately and tastefully make you look your best.
If you’re interested in learning more about Botox and dermal fillers, give our Clairemont, San Diego, California, office a call at 858-565-6394 to schedule an appointment with Dr. Hamidi, or send us a message online. We also accept telehealth appointments.
