Reducing Facial Wrinkles: Fillers, Botox, And Lifts

The insidious appearance of facial wrinkles is a plague for many men and women as they age. Mourning the loss of their youth, in appearance and energy, man people turn to medical procedures for cosmetic purposes. If you are one of thousands of people seeking to recapture the days of smooth skin, there are a few very popular ways to achieve that goal.

Some of the most popular ways to reduce the deep furrows and folds of aging, wrinkled skin are the injection of fillers underneath the skin. Collagen fillers are among the most common of these. After a simple skin test to determine any potential allergies, collagen will be injected most often in the wrinkles around the mouth. Other name brand fillers provide the impatient with an immediate form of injection that doesn’t require the allergy test period necessary with collagen. Collagen injections take less than an hour and may last up to six months while the other fillers might need one or two follow up appointments.

Botox injections are another ever-popular choice for reducing the amount of wrinkles on the face. Botox is the common name of a drug that has been used in the treatment of many different medical conditions, usually involving the over activity of muscles or nerves. The use of this medication as a cosmetic tool involves injecting the drug into the muscles under the wrinkles. The medication, used in very small doses, reduces the amount of tension that the muscles can attain. In effect, the use of Botox weakens the muscles, so that they cannot draw the eyebrows together, pull the face into frown lines, or create crows’ feet or forehead lines.

Face lifts, including brow lifts, eyelid lifts, and forehead lifts, are surgical procedures that reduce the amount of wrinkles in the face. These procedures involve making an incision and then removing the offending tissue and even muscles which are causing the wrinkles. These surgeries will take longer than adding fillers or injecting Botox, but won’t usually need to be repeated. The recovery time from face lifts will be longer than the recovery time from filler or Botox injections, but will also have longer lasting results.

In addition to these cosmetic procedures, topical creams and laser treatments are also available. Topical creams usually include high amounts of either vitamin A or vitamin C. Check with your health care provider before using creams, as some of them are not recommended for pregnant or nursing women. The creams are less expensive than other treatment options, but also have less effect. Laser treatments are extremely effective, but require about two weeks of homebound isolation, while the burned skin heals to beautiful smoothness.