Botulinum Toxin Type A (Botox®/Xeomin®/Dysport®) by Dr Michael Prager

There is only one reason why we want to have cosmetic treatments: We want to look more attractive. We don’t want bigger lips or fuller cheeks or smoother foreheads unless it makes us more beautiful. We want to feel and look the best we can.

How is it done?

There are a couple of things that can make the way of injecting Botulinum Toxin Type A (BNT-A) different. Most patients generally are interested in an attractive, beautiful and natural looking face. Unfortunately we all are much too familiar with the overdone, plastic looking faces that greet us from the pages of celebrity magazines. 

  • I believe that most people’s upper face region is over-treated, meaning the forehead is motionless whereas the lower face moves. This makes the face look dis-harmonic
  • The lower face needs as much BNT-A as the upper face. Injecting the jowl/neck area creates and maintains a neat jaw-line, lifts the cheeks and makes a face more attractive.
  • Crow’s feet treated with BNT-A cause drooping cheeks, this is a mistake. Smile lines are better treated with very thin dermal fillers

 

Is it worth it?

Obvious, plastic looking cosmetic work is like wearing fake designer cloths, worthless. Good cosmetic work is an investment in your future. Good Cosmetic treatments prevent aging and maintain, even re-create your youthful appearance. A perfect treatment is like a piece of art, priceless.

BNT-A treatments are one of the fastest growing cosmetic procedures today. American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery statistics show that more than 5 million people in the U.S. were treated in 2009 alone.

BNT-A is a muscle relaxant. It is used most commonly to lift eyebrows, sagging cheeks and to make jowls disappear. The muscle relaxation can reduces the frown lines, forehead lines, laughter lines around the eyes and lines around the mouth.

In other fields of medicine BNT-A has been used for over 30 years to treat muscle spasms and muscle hyperactivity.

Results with BNT-A

Most people are concerned about BNT-A treatments being obvious. Dr Prager is well known for achieving results that are natural, beautiful and most of all discreet. Injected properly, Botox® makes you look more relaxed, younger and fresher. Only you need to know. All that matters for you is to look your best. 

Follow up treatments

After your first treatment it is advisable to make a follow up appointment within 4 weeks to evaluate the results of the procedure and for small top ups if needed.

Most people have found that in order to get the best possible treatment results, you would repeat the treatment within 4months. Treatment should not be more frequent than every three months. If you don’t continue treatment, the wrinkles between your brows will gradually return to the way they looked before your initial injection, this can take another several months.

 

Question and Answer Section

Q: What Can BNT-A Do?

A: “If you have BNT-A at the right time (before you have very deep or obvious lines) it can prevent the need for drastic facial surgery later in life. Most people could avoid surgery if they had Botox to relax the muscles in their face and neck in combination with fillers at an earlier stage in their life. It’s a great preventative if used in the correct way. Obviously, it depends on the individual but if you have obvious signs of “jowliness” when you are 30, then you can avoid the need of surgery at 50 if BNT-A is employed properly. It’s so much easier to maintain a “youthful”, natural look with injectibles than it is with surgery. There are few surgeons who can pull it off.” 

Q: Is BNT-A Safe?

A: “Yes. It is licensed for the use in children from as young as 2 years onwards, has over 30 years of clinical data to document the safety and is used in over 5 million procedures annually. Much of the negative image attached to BNT-A is down to the fact that people still think that there are only two alternatives - either looking old or looking “Botoxed” - i.e. frozen-faced!” 
 

Q: How does BNT-A Work?

A: “BNT-A is a muscle relaxant which is injected in very small amounts into certain facial muscles to reduce muscle movement where it is injected. BNT-A does not fill lines or alter the skin’s texture. It only reduces excessive or repetitive muscle movement that causes the skin to “crease” each time the muscles move - frown lines or crow‘s feet. Lines are caused when the skin has lost some of the elastic fibres and cushioning collagen that makes the skin plump and elastic. The movement squeezes the elastic material out of the skin and causes an indentation. This is less visible when we are young, but as we age, collagen and elastin production is reduced, making skin more vulnerable to developing lines in the areas where there is a lot of movement - between the eyebrows, around the eyes from the nose down to the mouth.

Reducing the movement with BNT-A allows the skin to replace the collagen, reducing the lines. Generally, you’ll start to see improvements two to four weeks after treatment.  The results will continue to improve until the BNT-A wears off, which is usually 3-4 months. Sometimes it takes longer for the line to disappear completely. That is why it is recommended to repeat BNT-A every 4 months in order to get the best possible results.”