Are frown lines stealing your smile? Are you preoccupied with lines and wrinkles between your brows or across your forehead? Do you experience crow’s feet at the outer corners of your eyes? If so, you could benefit from treatment with Xeomin, an FDA-approved neurotoxin treatment that can temporarily diminish lines and wrinkles in the skin. We’re proud to offer this injectable along with our other professional services at Aesthetic Surgical Arts/Mia Bella Donna Medspa in Overland Park, KS.
What Is Xeomin?
Xeomin is a neurotoxin injectable that causes short-term paralysis in treated facial muscles to minimize lines and wrinkles. Its product formula is similar to Botox, but it does not include any accompanying proteins.
This makes it a more potent form of neurotoxin and may also result in more successful long-term treatment due to lower chances of the body becoming resistant to the product over time. This injectable is approved by the FDA and is considered a safe and effective treatment option for almost every patient.
How Does It Work?
This injectable is made with incobotulinumtoxinA, a bacterial toxin that is safely refined and dosed to achieve optimal results. Treatments like Xeomin and Botox are specifically designed to treat dynamic wrinkles, which are caused by regular muscle movements and may appear deeper and more noticeable when you make expressions.
Unlike static wrinkles, which appear the same regardless of muscle movement, dynamic wrinkles can be effectively treated by “freezing” certain facial muscles with a neurotoxin. The toxin is injected into the target facial muscles with a small syringe, where it causes short-term paralysis within 2 weeks of treatment.
The end result will appear completely natural and allow you to make all your normal facial expressions. However, the lines and wrinkles caused by repeated muscle movements will be noticeably reduced or even completely eliminated.
Where Can It Be Used?
Generally speaking, the upper half of the face is the most expressive region. This is especially true in the forehead and brow areas, where tiny changes to expression can completely change its meaning.
Unsurprisingly, these regions are often the first to develop dynamic wrinkles as habitual muscle movements cause lines in the skin. These lines may appear faint at first, but they typically become deeper over time and are even more apparent when you’re expressing your emotions by smiling, laughing, or frowning.
Forehead
The forehead is one of the largest regions of the face. It plays a major role in expressing emotions and is also a prime location for dynamic wrinkles due to frequent muscle movement.
Frown lines can begin developing in the forehead in the early to mid-20s, making some patients look older than they really are. This injectable neurotoxin can be used to treat the forehead muscles and reduce dynamic wrinkles without compromising your expressions.
Eye Area
The eyes are surrounded by delicate muscles that control expression. One of the most common issues created by these muscles is crow’s feet, which are dynamic wrinkles at the outer corners of the eyes.
These lines are often caused by smiling, but they can impact many patients’ self-esteem and are notoriously difficult to conceal. A neurotoxin injection relaxes the muscles that highlight crow’s feet and allows you to smile with confidence.
Brows
Your brows move constantly throughout your day, and it’s no surprise that the area between the brows is one of the most common locations for problematic dynamic wrinkles.
These deep vertical lines, called glabellar lines, can make you look upset or angry even when your face is at rest. Relaxing the muscles around the brows can smooth the skin and erase glabellar lines in 2 weeks or less.
How Long Does It Last?
Since their main ingredient is the same, both Botox and Xeomin have comparable results longevity. However, the purer concentration of neurotoxin found in this injectable may help it last a little longer than Botox in some patients.
While each patient’s experience and results are unique, you can expect to enjoy the results of your treatment for 3-4 months before the effects of the neurotoxin wear off. Once this happens, you can return for follow-up treatments to maintain your ideal results for as long as you desire.
How Do Injectables Compare to a Facelift?
Facelift surgery is one of the most efficient ways to correct signs of aging in the face. However, it may not be the right option for some patients due to its intensive nature, extensive recovery time, and significant cost.
In today’s modern medical world, many aging concerns can be addressed with less invasive measures, including injectables like Xeomin. While it cannot address static wrinkles or skin laxity caused by collagen breakdown in the skin, this treatment can take years off your appearance by erasing dynamic wrinkles and smoothing the skin without requiring you to put your life on hold for surgery.
Am I an Ideal Candidate?
If you’re an adult man or woman who wants to see dynamic wrinkles disappear, you could be an ideal candidate for this treatment option. In order to pursue treatment, you should be generally healthy, free from any allergies or medical conditions that could interact negatively with treatment, and not currently pregnant or nursing.
In addition, it’s important to have educated expectations about the results you could experience from this treatment. This treatment may not be ideal for candidates who wish to eliminate static wrinkles, which cannot be effectively treated with neurotoxin injectables.
However, this product can be combined with other treatment options to correct a range of aging concerns. Our talented doctor can help you determine your candidacy for treatment and recommend possible treatment combinations during your initial consultation.
What Should I Expect?
Our dedicated staff is ready to work with you to achieve your cosmetic goals and ideal image. Here’s a basic overview of what’s in store for you when you pursue treatment at our professional practice.
Consultation
To begin your treatment process, you’ll have a one-on-one consultation with our doctor. This brief appointment is designed to help us determine whether this treatment is right for you by evaluating your medical history, areas of concern, and cosmetic goals.
It also gives you the chance to learn more about this injectable and ask any questions you may have before your first appointment. Our doctor will explain the treatment process and may also recommend an injection schedule to keep your skin looking its best. Once your consultation is complete, you can follow our doctor’s instructions to prepare for treatment.
Preparation
Before your first appointment, it’s important to ensure that your skin is healthy and hydrated. This will accelerate your recovery process and enhance your final results. We recommend that patients preparing for treatment follow a daily skincare routine that excludes any harsh exfoliants, chemical treatments or peel, laser treatments, or other skincare options that may cause irritation in the target area.
You should avoid these products for at least 2 weeks before and after your injections to protect your skin as it heals. In addition to irritating products, you should protect your skin from damaging sun exposure that could cause redness and irritation. Harmful sun exposure is estimated to cause up to 90% of all skin-related concerns, including fine lines, wrinkles, dark spots, discoloration, and skin cancer.
Similarly, tanning can damage the skin cells and age your skin more rapidly than normal. We recommend that our patients always wear sunscreen and limit their time in direct sunlight to preserve their skin’s health and vitality, both before treatment and in their daily lives.
Treatment
On the morning of your appointment, you should cleanse your skin and inspect the target areas for any signs of infection or irritation. You should also avoid applying any makeup products to the target area. Upon arrival at our office, one of our trained staff members will sanitize your skin and apply a topical anesthetic cream to prepare it for the injection process.
Once your skin is numbed, our staff member will use a fine needle to inject the neurotoxin product into the target facial muscles. This process is pain-free and typically takes between 15-30 minutes to complete.
Once our staff member has finished injecting the product, they will clean the injection sites and give you instructions to follow during your recovery period. You can return to your normal routine and daily activities directly after your appointment.
Recovery
A typical recovery period lasts 5-7 days as the injection sites heal and the neurotoxin begins to take effect. During this time, it’s important to avoid touching the treated areas. Rubbing or pressing the skin could spread the product to other muscles, which may impact the appearance of your results. After approximately 1 week, you can touch your skin and face without disturbing the product.
Most patients begin to notice their initial results developing as early as 3-4 days after treatment. You can see the neurotoxin begin to work its magic by standing in front of your mirror and making some of your normal facial expressions. While your smile will still look the same, the treated muscles in the upper half of the face will remain immobile.
This will eliminate dynamic wrinkles, frown lines, and crow’s feet, giving you a more youthful appearance. Your full results should appear within 2 weeks of treatment, giving you plenty of time to enjoy your newly smoothed skin for the next several months.
Results and Maintenance
Once your final results appear, you can use most skincare products and treatments as normal. We recommend that you continue to protect your skin from the sun and that you avoid any injectable or dermal filler treatments in the treated area for at least 1 month.
This, along with a healthy skincare routine, hydration, and regular moisturization, will enhance and prolong your final results for 3-4 months or more. Towards the end of this period, you will notice muscle movement returning to the treated area as the neurotoxin wears off. At this point, you can decide whether you want to continue treatment by having a follow-up appointment to maintain your results.
Most patients choose to pursue maintenance treatments to prevent dynamic wrinkles from deepening over time and to enjoy their ideal image for years to come. With just two to six, 30-minute treatments each year, you could erase wrinkles and lines and reveal younger, smoother skin.
Contact Us for More Information!
Aging is a natural part of life, but you don’t need to let signs of aging impact your confidence or dim your smile. With Xeomin, you can minimize dynamic wrinkles in one easy step and start focusing on the more important things in your life.
To learn more about this transformative injectable treatment, contact our team of experts at Aesthetic Surgical Arts/Mia Bella Donna Medspa in Overland Park, KS to schedule your initial consultation today! We look forward to hearing from you soon!
