Breast Augmentation and Liposuction Blog - Dr. Bottger

Non-invasive cosmetic surgery is popular both for its effectiveness and its short or non-existent downtime. Halloween is really the beginning of the holiday season and if you would like to quickly improve your appearance before Thanksgiving, you have many choices in how to do it.

Injectables are among the "lunchtime" treatments you may have heard about, which give immediate results. We offer several very effective injectable fillers. They each work differently, but in general they all create volume beneath the skin which smoothes the skin surface.

As we age the body produces less collagen - a fibrous protein which helps support the skin. Elastin is another natural protein and gives elasticity to the skin. The skin's middle layer, the dermis, has a matrix of collagen and elastin like scaffolding. Collagen and elastin are abundant in youthful skin but their reduced production is a contributing cause to wrinkle-formation as we age.

Injectable fillers provide increased volume which substitutes for the loss of collagen and elastin. The results last six months or perhaps longer. We offer Restylane(R) and Radiesse(R) which smooth out frown lines, nasolabial folds and other wrinkles around the mouth and cheeks. We also offer Juvederm(tm) which is effective in smoothing out the fine lines which form around the lips, as well as other fine lines on the face.

BOTOX(R)
BOTOX(R) is an injectable, but not an injectable filler. It does not work by providing volume beneath the skin. Instead, it temporarily paralyzes the muscle where it is injected. It blocks the nerve messages traveling from the brain which tell the muscle to contract, and this prevents the muscle from contracting for as long as the BOTOX(R) is in effect.

Most often it is used for frown lines and horizontal forehead lines, although it can also be used around the mouth. Repeat treatments can "retrain" the muscle to some extent. If you have a series of BOTOX(R) injections, not only does the skin remain smooth for lack of muscle contraction, but also the muscle remains relaxed for all that time. This may break an old habit of frowning or squinting which has caused the wrinkles.

You can see some Before and After photos in our BOTOX(R) Gallery.

Injectables, whether dermal fillers or BOTOX(R), can rejuvenate the face and give you a refreshed, more wide-awake look. Treatments last only about 15 minutes and are done with local anesthetics.

If you would like to know more about the injectable fillers we offer or about BOTOX(R), please call or email our cosmetic surgery office to schedule a personal consultation.