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Where Are the Best Places To Use Botox?

Where Are the Best Places To Use Botox?

Where-Are-the-Best-Places-To-Use-Botox | Baltimore, MD | Green Relief Health, LLC
Medically Reviewed by Dr. Lauren Nawrocki

Medically Reviewed by Dr. Lauren Nawrocki

Dr. Nawrocki splits her time between a local hospital, teaching at a university, and offering advanced treatments like anti-aging and IV nutrient therapies at Green Relief Health in Baltimore. She personally attends to each patient for various services and is certified in Botox, Dysport, Medical Weight Loss, and Dermal Fillers, as well as IV nutrient therapy. Dr. Nawrocki is a member of the AAFE, AAAM, and IFM.

Do you find yourself searching for the best places to use Botox? This article should give you some good information on areas in which Botox is used and how it works. So, let’s first look at what Botox is to understand better where it is used.

What is Botox?

Botox is a purified form of botulinum type A that is used as a neurotoxin or neuromodulator to block muscle movement. Today, Botox is used for many medical reasons as well as for cosmetic and aesthetic uses, primarily in the face. This article will focus on the cosmetic uses of Botox. 

It is important to note that Botox is dosed per unit which is crucial to remember if you are inquiring about the pricing of Botox near you that you ask what the practice’s price for Botox is per unit.

You might ask why you would want to block muscle movement. Well, let’s get into that. First, you should understand how wrinkles are formed and why they occur. Wrinkles, or folds in the skin, are very common in the aging process. As every person ages, these wrinkles become a part of life, and you cannot escape them.

Luckily, there is much you can do to prevent them from worsening, occurring too quickly, and becoming too prominent. These tiny folds and lines develop usually, most commonly around the areas of expression on our faces. 

These places include on the forehead, around the eyes, like when we smile, and between our eyebrows if we are frowning or squinting. Wrinkles also occur in the lower face around the mouth from talking, chewing, and smiling. When our small but powerful facial muscles make expressions, as mentioned above, the skin on top of the muscle moves and creates wrinkles over time. 

These wrinkles are worsened during the aging process with the loss of collagen and elastin, two proteins that help our skin stretch and bounce back. 

When Botox is injected into the small muscles in your face, after the medication has time to set in and take effect, the result is that the muscle is temporarily relaxed and can not move well. While this sounds scary, it results in the skin over the muscle not moving and, therefore, not creating wrinkles and lines in the face.

Forehead Wrinkles

Now that you understand how wrinkles are formed let’s discuss the best places to use Botox on the face. The forehead lines are created by the frontalis muscle. This muscle moves your eyebrows upward and creates pesky wrinkles on your forehead if you look upward or make a surprised facial expression.

Botox is commonly injected using a very tiny needle into the frontalis muscle in many different injection points across the area to cause the muscle to relax temporarily. 

As mentioned previously in this article, Botox is dosed per unit. Your Botox injector should review with you prior to receiving treatment how many units might be needed per area so you understand how much you might need in the future, as well as what your cost would be. Most commonly, a provider might inject anywhere from 10-20 units in the forehead area to relax your wrinkles.

Eleven Lines or Frown Wrinkles

Just like Botox is injected into the forehead muscle, the eleven lines or frown wrinkles are the two horizontal lines in between your eyebrows that form when you squint and frown. 

This muscle group is called the glabellar complex and is comprised of a few muscles known as the corrugators and procerus muscles. These muscles create these wrinkles when you make a squinting or frown expression.

A lot of people are quite bothered by these wrinkles because the wrinkles that form in this area can create an angry look even if you are not feeling angry. This area frequently requires around 20 units of Botox to be adequately treated.

Crow’s Feet Wrinkles

The other area that is a great place to use Botox is for the lateral canthal wrinkles, also known as the crow’s feet wrinkles. These wrinkles are caused by the circular orbicularis oculi muscle. 

This muscle is the circular muscle around the eye that allows you to open and close your eyelids. Because we use these muscles when we smile as well, these wrinkles can get worse if you tend to smile with your eyes a lot.

You might ask why these wrinkles are called crow’s feet. They got their name from looking like crow’s feet with the tiny toes that come off the foot of the crow. 

These wrinkles can often by seen by looking straight on at the face and more commonly when looking at someone from the side, especially when they are smiling. This area of the face is typically treated with 6-12 units per side, totaling 12-24 units of Botox.

Bunny Line Botox

The bunny lines are the tiny lines formed around the bridge of your nose when you squint. A lot of people also use this muscle group when frowning, making this a popular area of treatment for patients when they are receiving Botox injections to treat their eleven lines. 

Botox injection dosing in this area is quite small, around 3 units total, but can give great, natural results.

Lower Face Botox

Now that you have an idea of the best places to use Botox for treatment in the upper face let’s talk about areas in the lower face that offer great results.

DAO

One of the most popular areas of treatment for Botox at Green Relief Health is treating the DAO muscles. You might hear of this treatment commonly referred to as “DAO Botox.” Over time, these muscles pull down on the corners of the mouth, causing a sad clown or sad mouth appearance. 

When Botox is placed in these muscles around the corners of the mouth, it helps to reverse the downward pull by relaxing the muscle, therefore returning a more neutral appearance at the corners and reversing the sad look. A small amount of Botox is typically used for this treatment, usually around 4-6 units in total.

Lip Flip

Another popular area of treatment for Botox in the lower face is to treat perioral rhytids or wrinkles above the upper lip. 

These are commonly referred to as smokers’ lines, and areas created over time by an active orbicularis oris muscle doing things like smoking or straw sipping but also occur just by talking, eating, and drinking. This area is sensitive to injection and is not the most comfortable. 

However, Botox injected in this muscle above the upper lip can smooth the lines and even create a slightly larger upper lip. As you might imagine, this is a great place to use Botox if you’re looking for more lip volume but are not ready to get dermal filler into the lips for augmentation. 

This is another area of lower Botox dosage, with the lip flip procedure typically requiring around 4-6 units of Botox.

Chin Rippling or Dimpling

Another great area to use Botox is in the chin. This might seem very odd off the bat. However, when you wrinkle the chin, you are able to see significant cobblestone or rippling and dimpling appearance under the skin. This is formed by the mentalis muscle. 

Not only is this area great to treat for the aesthetic purposes of those wrinkles, but it can also help the results of the DAO injections come out more successfully if someone has strong mental muscle. Commonly, this area is treated with about 5-7 units of Botox.

How Long Does It Take To See Results?

Now that you understand the best, most common areas where Botox is used, you might ask how long it takes to “kick in” or take effect. Botox injections start taking effect around 4-5 days on average, with results peaking at 2 weeks. 

A lot of people see their results optimized around 4-6 weeks. These timelines are important to keep in mind when you’re considering getting Botox injections before a big event like a graduation or wedding. It is best to start treatment 4-6 weeks before any big event to allow the Botox to take effect as well as to allow for any adjustments needed from your provider. 

Sometimes, after Botox treatment, it is not uncommon at all to require a brief touch-up of your treatment, especially if you are new to receiving Botox and are not quite sure how much dosing you might require. 

While the average dosage amounts mentioned above are the most common, certain patients might require more or less depending on their facial anatomy and strength of facial muscles.

Does It Hurt?

This is a common question, as you might think Botox injections in your face might be incredibly painful. You will likely find that due to the small size of the needles used, most patients do not find treatment sessions too uncomfortable and feel that the downside of receiving tiny needles in your face is well worth the benefit of smooth, great-looking skin!

How Often Do You Need Treatment?

Botox will most commonly last around 3-4 months before it starts to wear off, and you will require a retreatment with your provider. Some patients do get longer or shorter durations out of one treatment, and this is dependent on a few factors. 

Things like physical fitness or activity levels can impact the duration, with heavy exercisers and runners tending to require more frequent treatments due to their metabolism being set at a higher rate. It is best to make your appointments around 4 months apart so that your provider can assess you with little effects from the prior treatment lasting to ensure the best dosing and placement, resulting in a more optimal result.

How Much Does It Cost?

In the Baltimore area, you can expect an upper-face Botox treatment to total an average of $550-800, depending on your provider and the price they charge per unit. 

These prices will vary depending on any specials or promotions that are being offered and if the provider participates in any reward programs offered by the manufacturer of Botox. This patient rewards program is called Alle, previously called Brilliant Distinctions. 

Botox can save you hundreds of dollars per year if you find a reputable, expert provider who participates in this program. At Green Relief Health in Baltimore, we proudly participate with Alle and always check to see what rewards you have available to you prior to checking you out of the practice after your treatment. 

Hopefully, you now have a better understanding of the best places to use Botox for you, and be sure to check out Green Relief Health for all your medical aesthetic needs.  

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