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What Is the Best Age for Getting Botox?

Taking good care of your skin can help you minimize the effects of aging, but even the best skin care cannot stop signs of aging forever. In addition, some of us simply show signs of aging earlier than other people because of genetics, and the best skincare in the world can’t undo the power of our genes. If you are bothered by wrinkles and lines that are making you look older than you feel, or even than you are, we can help with Botox. At Beautiful Eyes in Wichita, KS, we offer this treatment because we know how effective it is.

What Is the Best Age for Getting Botox?

It is important that we talk with each of our patients to go over needs and goals before we recommend any treatment. However, this treatment is approved by the FDA for anyone over 18 years old, and it is good for anyone who is reasonably healthy. Whether you are in your late 20s or you’ve already passed your 60th birthday, there are reasons to consider getting this treatment. There is no perfect age: everything depends on your needs and aesthetic goals.

Younger People

Some people get this treatment as early as their mid to late 20s. This is because a neurotoxin of this type is not just a way to treat existing wrinkles: it is also effective in delaying the onset of new wrinkles. There are also many people who come for treatment in their 30s as soon as they see lines and folds taking longer to disappear after they make expressions. While this injectable cannot stop aging, it can delay the onset of wrinkles and lines, and allow you to keep a youthful look for much longer.

Middle Age

This treatment is also an excellent choice for people who have reached their 40s and 50s and are seeing signs of aging. In fact, it is at this age that most people start getting Botox. At this age, treatment can smooth out the skin by relaxing the muscles underneath, removing those lines and wrinkles, and returning patients to the look they remember when younger.

Older People

You are never too old to get a Botox treatment, either. While the results may not be as dramatically youthful for people with very advanced sides of aging as they are for younger people, it will make a real difference and can turn back the clock on your face by decades.

Why Botox Works

The Problem

Many of the lines and wrinkles we develop as we age come from making expressions. We make expressions with our faces throughout our lives, even when there is no one around to see us. We start making expressions as infants, and each of us tends to have unique expressions specific to us. Every time we concentrate, smile, laugh, become angry, or even react to something in surprise, we make the same motions. These motions lead to something called dynamic wrinkles.

These are wrinkles caused by movement. As our muscles move the same spots of skin, those spots of skin become less good at bouncing back, particularly as we start to lose collagen and elastin as we get older. One day, you wake up and realize that those lines and wrinkles are taking longer and longer to smooth out. Eventually, they don’t smooth out at all any longer, and they will only deepen over time.

“Relaxing” the Face

This treatment works because it interrupts the signals that come from the nerves telling the muscles to contract. When the muscles no longer contract, the treated area relaxes, and the skin above it smooths over. Over the course of a few days and weeks, that smooth skin completely relaxes, and lines, wrinkles, and folds disappear.

This treatment works so well in part because it “trains” the muscles to stop moving. This means that if you seek treatment when you are young, you can see a dramatic result in postponing the signs of aging. And no matter what age you are, as you seek repeated treatments, they tend to become effective for longer as the muscles become used to relaxing.

How Often Can I Get Treatment?

Most people enjoy their treatment results for about three to four months, though the results vary by person. Some people can actually keep the results for five or six months, particularly if they have been having treatment for a while. Other people may keep their results for a slightly shorter time, and this is usually because they have a high metabolism and so metabolize the neurotoxin more quickly than most people.

Rest assured that we will work with you to figure out the schedule that works for your needs. It’s important to be flexible and to set up personalized treatments that allow each individual to meet their goals while fitting treatments into a busy lifestyle.

FAQ About Treatment

1. What Is Treatment Like?

Your treatment starts when you come to see us for a consultation. We will evaluate your skin condition and listen to your goals, and then we will help you to develop the right plan of treatments to meet them. We will also review your medical history and any medications and supplements you are taking, though there are only a very few things that can interfere with your candidacy for this treatment.

The treatment itself is very quick and takes only about 15 minutes. There’s no need to schedule downtime afterward, either. In fact, some people schedule treatments over lunch breaks because they are so convenient.

2. Is This Safe?

This treatment has been approved by the FDA and extensively studied. Every year, many thousands of people are treated with Botox all around the world, and it is an appropriate treatment for people of nearly any age, and for both sexes. The treatment itself is made up of a highly purified, botulism toxin. This is essentially a type of protein, and when it is injected, it blocks the chemical messengers sent out by the nerves to communicate with the muscles.

Skilled injectors are able to address exactly those muscles that are causing wrinkles and lines to form while leaving other muscles untouched so that patients continue to have perfectly natural facial expressions. This treatment is considered a safe and gentle alternative to expensive, time-consuming, and sometimes risky surgeries.

3. Can I Combine This With Other Treatments?

Yes! This treatment is flexible and appropriate to use with many other treatments. If you are experiencing volume loss in the face, skin texture issues, or signs of aging that are caused by something other than facial movement, we have treatments that can help and that can be combined with this one.

4. What Can I Have Treated With Botox?

Fine Lines

Fine lines can be treated with this neurotoxin. It’s a misconception that you have to wait for lines to develop into deep wrinkles before you can get effective treatment to erase them! In fact, it is often more effective to get treatment before lines become deep.

Brow Lines

If you have a vertical line or two that run between your eyebrows, which may look like the number 11 when you concentrate, these are called brow lines or frown lines. As they deepen, they can make a person look older than they are, but they can also make a person look concerned or angry even when they’re not feeling any emotion of the sort. This treatment is an effective way to address these frown lines.

Forehead Lines

The lines that run across the forehead are often the very first deep wrinkles that a person will see in life. This makes sense because our foreheads are so important to our most exaggerated expressions. We use our eyebrows to express surprise, anger, laughter, and worry; and we even furrow them whenever we are trying to concentrate. Dynamic lines tend to develop here very quickly, and this treatment can soften them and make you look more approachable as well as younger.

Nasolabial Folds and Marionette Lines

The nasolabial folds are the ones that start on the sides of the nose and stretch down to the corners of the mouth. Marionette lines are the ones that start at the corner of the mouth and go down to the chin. Both can be addressed by this treatment.