Botox Cosmetic®, Xeomin®, and Jeuveau® are injectable relaxers for many types of wrinkles. In the family of neurotoxins, these are dropped underneath the skin in tiny amounts and cause muscles to relax locally.
For worry lines and crow’s feet on the upper face, relaxers are usually the way to go. They are also great for lip lines, for neck lines from craning necks, and excessive sweating on palms and underarms.
What to Expect
Typically the onset of relaxation begins 2 days after treatment (the muscles stop scrunching in about 2 days, the maximal wrinkle relaxation usually takes about a month) and lasts for 3 months.
While once in a while bruising may result, this is a no-downtime lunchtime treatment and makeup can be worn immediately afterwards. It is a good idea to stop any aspirin-like medications 2 weeks (yes they can make you bruise more easily that far in advance!) ahead of time. Rarely the protein may reach upper eyelid muscles, causing an eyelid droop or "bedroom eye", which is a nuisance but can be immediately fixed with prescription eye drops and fortunately lasts a lot less time than the good effects of the relaxer.
When you come for your relaxer treatment, you will be seated in an exam chair. The assistant will go over the consent form with you and can answer some question "Before" photos are taken for your private file. Dr. Berger can then discuss with you what you are hoping to accomplish with the relaxer, suggest a treatment plan, and answer any questions which remain. After the face is cleansed, the relaxer placement is done by Dr. Berger with very small syringes, and even "needle phobic" patients do very well. Some small bumps are immediately apparent but go down quickly, usually about 5-10 minutes. It’s so easy!
