Wrinkle Relaxers

Freeze Wrinkles in Their Tracks

There are 3 kinds of wrinkles: the first type of wrinkle is caused over time by muscle motion (frowning/squinting, lifting your eyes, or smiling). These lines are the easiest to smooth out using wrinkle relaxers (BOTOX^® Cosmetic, Dysport^®, XEOMIN^® and Jeuveau™). These so-called ‘toxins’ work by putting the muscles to sleep which create lines so that you look younger and more rested.

How Do Wrinkle Relaxers Work?

All these injectables are derivatives of botulinum toxin. In 1997, BOTOX^® Cosmetic was approved by the FDA for cosmetic use and since then millions of treatments have been given. BOTOX^® Cosmetic was quickly joined by Dysport^® and XEOMIN^® and most recently Jeuveau™. All of them are excellent for maintaining your youth. Not only can they prevent future wrinkles, but they also improve those you already have because if you can’t fold the skin, it won’t crease or develop an etched-in line. So by decreasing facial expression and minimizing muscle movement around the parts of the face that are most prone to wrinkles, you are giving yourself a better chance at keeping your skin looking smooth for decades to come. Wrinkle relaxers should not be your only treatment to improve your skin, but they are very powerful.

Treating The  “11’s”

Eighty percent of all wrinkle relaxers are used on the lines between the eyes (the so-called elevens) Because frowning can cause deep vertical grooves between your eyebrows that may you look angry when we smooth those out, the effect is dramatic. 

While helping with those distracting lines that are between the eyes, wrinkle relaxers help bring the attention back to your eyes. It can also give a little bit of a lifting of the brow (which tends to sag, as we get older) creating a more open-eyed appearance.

Treating The Forehead

Wrinkle relaxers can also be used in the forehead in the deep horizontal lines that occur there, especially in men. This is where BOTOX^® Cosmetic (referred to as BROTOX by some of my male patients) is best used in men – the horizontal lines of the forehead which give him that “cro-magnon caveman” look. The crow’s feet, if they are deep, can also be smoothed out nicely with the wrinkle relaxers.

Am I a Candidate?

The word neurotoxin (which is what the wrinkle relaxers truly are) scares a lot of people away but they have been used in millions of people over the past 25 years so there is no need to fear. Of course, if you are pregnant or nursing or have a neuromuscular disorder you should not use a neurotoxin but the FDA has deemed them safe for the rest of us. 

The 3 most common areas where the wrinkle relaxers are used are the region between the eyebrows, forehead, and crow’s feet but they have many other uses on the face and the neck as this chart shows: