So what are frown lines?

Frown lines, which are also called glabellar rhytides are lines between your eyebrows that usually occur when you frown. After you spend many years squinting and frowning the lines finally becomes a permanent feature on your skin and these wrinkles can make you look even prematurely. Botox is a cosmetic that paralyzes the muscles that control the frown lines. And because the muscles cannot contract that means you cannot see the frown lines and therefore they will not create wrinkles.

Woman Getting an Injection in Her Temple

There are several classifications of frown lines that can occur on different parts of your face and all them can be effectively treated by administration of Botox. Some of them are as follows:

Horizontal Forehead Lines

These wrinkles appear horizontally on your face. Anytime you elevate your eyebrows you feel the tightening of the muscles on the forehead and you can see the appearance of the wrinkles.  When Botox injections are done on this area it should be done so carefully so as to avoid a temporary drooping of the eyelids. Because this area is made up of fibrous muscles it requires very little toxin administration.

Every Botox procedure should aim at between 3 to 5 lines only. Make sure the space between the injection sites is about 1 to 2 centimeters. That means you will need about 2 units of the toxin on this are alone. The treatment should last about 10 minutes and the person should ensure they are seated and after the procedure you need to stay upright for about two to three hours. You will be asked to go back to the doctor’s office several days after the treatment.

Glabellar Frown Lines

These are the frown lines where Botox treatment is mostly applied. The folds here are caused by the vertically oriented fibers which are found in the glabellar area of your face. For this treatment the administration of the toxin is done in about five areas. This one area requires close to 25 units of the toxin for all the five sites. One gets injected in the corrugator muscle then the other four are distributed around and on the sides of the muscle.

The doctor will initially ask the patient to frown or perform a scowl so that the targeted can be felt by the therapist. This then enables the therapist to know where to administer the injections in the various sites on your face. The depth of the injections will usually vary from one individual to another.  You will as well e advised to remain in an upright position for a while to avoid having the medication being absorbed by other muscles.

Lateral Canthal Lines

These ones are mainly caused by aging or the effect from overexposure to the UV rays of the sun. Just like other frown lines they can be treated with Botox. Lateral Canthal lines are arranged in a circular pattern around your eyes and the contraction of the tiny muscles found in this area produces wrinkles easily. You will receive about four injections on this area that are about one centimeter apart which will require between 2 to 3 units of the toxin. The practitioner needs to be careful because if there is an overdose of the medication, double vision is experienced but these side effects do not last for long.

Steps to follow for a safe procedure

a)      Make sure you find a cosmetic surgeon or a cosmetic dermatologist and get an appointment with them. It should be noted that only experienced medical practitioners are qualified enough to administer Botox injections as Botox is a prescription drug.

b)      When you get to the doctor the first step will be an evaluation that is conducted on you. The doctor will take your complete medical history, and then they will examine your frown lines and inform you whether or not you are a good candidate for Botox injections. The doctor may as well suggest other alternative ways to deal with your frown lines.

c)       You and your doctor will then agree on the day when you begin your Botox injections if they are in agreement that it is the best way to deal with your frown lines. It is possible for the doctor to give you the injections immediately after the consultation or you could agree on a later date that is convenient for both of you.

d)      Your forehead gets marked at the sites where the injections will be administered. This is a very important step as the doctor will get to know exactly where to place the needle during administration of the medication. This procedure is done on your face with a washable pen.

e)      Then it is time to tough it out in the real procedure. Your face will be cleaned with alcohol swabs and may be cooled with an ice pack and the doctor will them begin injecting the Botox into the muscles of the forehead. The needles used are so fine and thus the pain is reduced significantly and will just feel like a small sting.

f)       After the procedure is over, you get to sit with a cool pack for about 10 minutes. The cool pack is good in helping prevention of bruising at the sites of the injections.

g)      Then it is time to leave and go about your daily business as Botox will not require a day off and so you and return to your office or home to do your regular work immediately after your appointment. The only precaution is that you will be reminded to remain upright for about 2 to 3 hours and avid lying down for just a few hours after the injection.

You repeat the Botox injections in about every three months to maintain the results. Botox treatment does not give a permanent solution to your problem and so if you forget to get regular injections then your frown lines will reappear.