Looking Younger for the Holidays: Cosmetic Facial Injections
This fall seems to be flying by, and with Thanksgiving around the corner, the holiday season is already nipping at our heels. As excited as we all are to celebrate and spend a joyous time with our friends and families, many people are also anxious about looking their best. After all, the holidays are a perfect time to snap pictures of the entire family together.
If you’re looking for a way to give yourself a more youthful look before the holidays arrive, you’re not out of time. Cosmetic facial injections like Botox® or Dysport® and facial fillers such as Restylane®, Juvéderm®, and Radiesse® are among the fastest-acting treatments for facial rejuvenation, and if you want to smooth some wrinkles before the holidays, these are likely to be your best option.
As a double board-certified plastic surgeon who has helped thousands of patients look younger and more refreshed with cosmetic facial injections, I’m happy to help you understand your options.
How Different Types of Cosmetic Facial Injections Can Help You Look Younger
There are two general categories of cosmetic facial injections: wrinkle relaxers or neuromodulators like Botox® and Dysport®, and facial fillers. Either of them can be very effective (or a combination of both of them), but they each have their own uses.
Neuromodulators like Botox® and Dysport® are ideal for wrinkles that form because of tensed facial muscles. When you make repeated facial expressions over the course of years, like squints, frowns, and raised eyebrows, the muscles that create these expressions are contracting so often that they eventually stay in a semi-contracted state. When that happens, it pinches your skin into a wrinkle, much like the lines you see when you make those facial expressions.
This is particularly common in the form of crow’s feet, frown lines between the eyebrows, and lines across the forehead from raised eyebrows or surprised expressions. Botox® and Dysport® temporarily relax those tensed facial muscles, allowing the skin above it to smooth out and the wrinkle to fade or disappear.
Facial fillers, on the other hand, are meant for a different cause of wrinkles: a loss of volume and firmness in the skin. Fillers like Restylane® and Juvéderm® use a material called hyaluronic acid to replace this lost volume. This “fills in” wrinkles, hollow regions, and thinning areas and gives your skin a smoother, more youthful look.
There are also fillers like Radiesse® which start out similar to traditional fillers by using synthetic material to replace youthful facial volume. But Radiesse® also contains a specialized ingredient that drives your body to produce more collagen – the protein that makes young skin firm and wrinkle-free. This leads to longer-lasting results: up to two years compared to the six to twelve months that most facial fillers last.
When Should I Schedule My Cosmetic Facial Injections for the Holidays?
If you want to look your best when the holidays arrive, when should you schedule your cosmetic facial injections? It depends on the injections you’re receiving.
Botox® and Dysport® both start showing results about two days after your injections. You. May have some minor redness and bruising for a few days. The results gradually improve, reaching their full potential within 30 days of your treatment. Those results typically last for about three months.
The timeline is a bit different with facial fillers. Because traditional fillers are using an injectable gel to restore your facial volume, you’ll see results instantly when the fillers are injected. However, you may have some redness, swelling, and bruising in the first few days after your procedure, so your final results will be visible after those effects have faded.
With Radiesse®, you’ll also see immediate results that will be fully visible after your bruising and swelling fade. The collagen growth, though, begins to be noticeable about three months after your injection and will continue for about two years.
Getting Ready for the Holidays with Cosmetic Facial Injections
Now is the perfect time to start preparing for the holidays with your cosmetic facial injections. To discuss your options and schedule your quick and simple treatment, call my plastic surgery office today. Be sure to follow me on Facebook and Twitter for more plastic surgery and facial rejuvenation insights.
