Botox® Cosmetic in Kelowna

As always, it’s important for us to point out that undergoing any type of medical procedure should entail consulting with a licensed and highly experienced physician first. No one else should even be attempting to inject Botox or other medicines, let alone inject you with anything unless they are or have been trained by licensed physicians.

Sadly, not everyone does their due diligence before undergoing cosmetic procedures. As a result, some people have some horror stories following surgeries or treatments that involve injections. However, it isn’t Botox® that deserves the bad rap. Instead, it’s the non-licensed individuals posing as professional physicians who should be reprimanded.

That being said, it’s important to unveil some truth about Botox®. And in order to do so, we must take a look at some of the most prevalent myths about it. On EmpireMedicalTraining.com, a list including the top five myths about Botox® can be found. We began to take a look at this list in our last blog. Let’s pick up where we left off, shall we?

Since 1987, doctors have been performing an average of three million Botox® procedures per year without any patients experiencing long-term side effects. As EmpireMedicalTraining.com puts it, Botox® “is a purified protein and a medical prescription product, and has been used therapeutically to treat a variety of medical conditions.”

We hope our blogs have helped to dispel some myths while encouraging you to consult a physician if you have any questions about Botox®.

Not located in Kelowna? We see patients from many surrounding areas!

Other Sources:

Davis, Joshua Ian, et al. “The effects of Botox® injections on emotional experience.” Emotion 10.3 (2010): 433.

The third myth listed is that Botox® will leave you with a frozen face or give you that unnatural “startled” look. In fact, patients generally appear more relaxed and youthful. Once again, this is a myth that is perpetuated by the unqualified individuals who have improperly administered Botox® injections.

Trained professionals know exactly which muscles to treat and only inject Botox® into those specific muscles. Here’s another myth: You can only get one Botox® treatment. In actuality, you can repeat your Botox® treatments. As EmpireMedicalTraining.com explains, treatments can last up to three months in order to achieve optimum results.

Some people respond quicker than others, so the frequency of visits depends on the individual. Again, consulting with a doctor is the best way to discover what treatment plan is best for you. Finally, myth number five is that Botox® is a dangerous toxin. In truth, it has a fabulous safety record.

This myth is all about not being able to stop treatments once  you start. Some people spread the lie that your face will look horrible if you ever stop botox. Not true at all, you can stop treatments at any time for any reason and your skin will start wrinkling again like it did before. By performing botox treatments you are delaying the skin aging process but you can certainly go back to wrinkled skin any time you wish!

This myth was more common in the early days of botox treatments, decades ago. This myth is that you will get “botulism” disease if you inject botox into your body.  Botulism is a disease caused by the bacteria Clostridium botulinum which can contaminate some foods. It is a very rare illness and not linked to botox treatments whatsoever. Botox is the protein that is purified from this bacteria and then injected in very small quantities into the skin so certain muscles are forced to relax. There is no way to get botulism from botox injections, this one makes no sense at all.

Sometimes patients are under the impression that Botox can smooth your skin right away, but that’s not how Botox works to smoothen the skin.  Once botox is working by relaxing your muscles, this gives your skin a chance to heal and repair all the damage you have created by wrinkling it all the time. Over the next few weeks and months, as you generate new skin cells, your skin will become smoother and less wrinkled. It’s all about not moving certain muscles to allow your skin to repair itself. Amazing stuff.

While Botox Cosmetic is an amazing product to smoothen facial lines and wrinkles by relaxing muscles, the effect only lasts 3 months on average with some areas of the face beginning to move sooner than that. Some patients even claim their previous treatments have lasted them multiple years. Unfortunately this is simply not possible. Perhaps these patients discarded the habit of moving those muscles all the time and that habit took a long time to return? While it would be lovely to have a product like Botox work for multiple years, we aren’t there just yet. Hopefully in a few more years!

We see this sometimes when older patients visit us for recommendations to treat aging skin. They sometimes feel that after a certain age, it’s not possible to achieve any improvements or that it’s “just too late” for them. On the contrary, Botox cosmetic and a variety of other treatments can be highly effective for patients who are older and have never had any treatments previously. Actually it is those patients who haven’t invested in any cosmetic treatments throughout their lives who will see the biggest changes. We have patients in their 80s and even 90’s who still enjoy Botox cosmetic treatments!

There are common misconceptions that different neuromodulators or toxins work differently. They are based on the exact same molecule and differences in manufacturing and end product allow different manufacturers to make various claims. In our experience, all toxins work similarly and individual patients may prefer one over the other. Our recommendation is to use the toxin you are currently using and don’t switch to see more effectiveness because you will likely be disappointed.