4 Areas for Botox You Never Knew
Botulinum Toxin is not just for the crow’s feet and frown lines; there are a lot of different uses for this versatile treatment. Because this treatment is a medically controlled and therefore prescription-only substance, it has a wide array of uses within the medical fields and the aesthetic fields combined.
It’s worth mentioning here that Botulinum Toxin is approved for medical aesthetics when used for treating fine lines and wrinkles. This means that, even though it is a medically controlled substance, its uses are not limited to strictly medical treatments.
With this said, let’s look at the different uses for Botox.
Aesthetic Uses for Botox – Treatment Areas You Never Knew
The non-surgical neck lift
Many patients don’t realise the effects of Botox can be smoothing and lifting – we tend to associate that with dermal fillers.
Whilst fillers introduce more volume to area and lift loose skin, Botox treatments can help give a ‘lifted’ appearance to areas that are wrinkling and creasing. This is why the Nefertiti neck lift has become so popular as one of the lesser know treatment areas for Botox.
The Nefertiti neck lift, or non-surgical neck lift, uses Botulinum Toxin to soften the appearance of neck bands that make a patient’s neckline seem tensed. This is caused by the platysmal bands, two strips of muscle that run from the top of your neck down to just above your collarbone, either side of your neck. They become visible because of the tensing or contractions of the platysma muscle, which is very close to the surface of the skin and therefore visible as ‘bands’.
A Nefertiti neck lift therefore helps to create a smooth, more youthful looking neck by relaxing the plastysma muscles in the neck, preventing them from contracting. This softens the appearance of necks bands for up to 6 months.
Jawline slimming
Again, many people don’t think of Botulinum Toxin as anything other than an anti-wrinkle injection. Much like the Nefertiti neck lift, which helps to transform your neckline, Botulinum Toxin can be used for jawline slimming.
A ‘bulky’ jawline can be caused by the masseter muscles in the jaw clenching unintentionally. Much like squinting, frowning, or pouting, this can be a result of involuntary movements when stressed or concentrating, or more commonly how our faces naturally rest or sit.
Injecting Botulinum Toxin into the jaw muscle can therefore help to alleviate this tensing, helping the jaw appear slimmer because it is relaxed. This doesn’t necessarily make the muscle smaller, just less pronounced. This treatment can also be used to treat bruxism, teeth grinding, or jaw clenching, which can cause headaches and jaw ache.
Excessive sweating in the armpits
… And excessive sweating elsewhere, really. The medical term for excessive sweating is known as hyperhidrosis, and it’s estimated that as many as half a million people in the UK are affected. It can occur in places all over the body but most commonly manifests in the hands, feet, under-arms, and head. However, it can also present in the legs, neck, groin, and other areas of the body.
Unfortunately, there is no cure hyperhidrosis, but it can be managed effectively. Sometimes, its severity recedes with age or with the amendment of certain medications. There are ways to treat it, though, sometimes with oral medication and sometimes with Botulinum Toxin.
By introducing multiple small injections of Botox to the affected area, we can essentially reduce the sweat production. This can be very freeing for people who experience excessive sweating, especially if their condition affected their day to day life.
In fact, many people choose to have this treatment even if they’re not formally diagnosed with hyperhidrosis; if you meet the evaluation criteria performed by your medical injector and you sweat more than a ‘normal’ or ‘expected’ amount, then you could benefit from this treatment.
Bunny lines on the nose
Bunny lines on the nose are caused by the contraction of the muscles in the cheeks and around the eyes. They’re called bunny lines because they form lines that splay outwards from the bridge of the nose, like whiskers. If you scrunch your nose up as if imitating a rabbit, these are the lines we mean!
Whilst for some these can be endearing, others may not like the way their face scrunches when they smile or laugh. Furthermore, as we age and our skin becomes thinner, they can become more and more prominent.
By placing Botulinum Toxin in well-spaced, tiny injections along these lines in the nasalis muscle to prevent it from contracting as aggressively. This helps to smooth the appearance of bunny lines or nose wrinkles whilst still allowing you to grin and express yourself.
Anti-wrinkle injections are so much more than what their naming convention shapes them to be. They first received FDA approval in 1991, and new uses for both the medical world and the aesthetics world are being discovered everyday.
To receive expert injectable treatments only from medical professionals, contact Pro Aesthetics in West Bridgford, Nottingham, to arrange your consultation. We provide all of the treatments listed above and more.
Click here to call the clinic directly.