Botox is the leading non-surgical cosmetic procedure in the world! In 2020, over 6.2 million injections were administered in the U.S. and Canada. This figure continues to rise thanks to Botox being:
Incredibly popular
Extremely safe
Used for multiple cosmetic applications
Botox injections provide fast and transformative results that leaves your skin with a healthy glow. Procedures at our dental clinic are performed by Dr. Gurpreet Sidhu, who will inject specific muscles in the face to relax and smooth away wrinkles. After a comprehensive exam he will mark your injection sites to the exact millimeter to make sure we get the absolute best result for your skin.
Patients love the simplicity of the procedure and additionally, 87% - 90% of patients experience wrinkle relaxation in less than a week with little-to-no discomfort. Some even report a drastic difference in their appearance in just three days following their injections.
Botox treatment
What is Botox for Cosmetics?
Botox® is a natural purified protein derived from the botulinum toxin. After the toxin is extracted, a lot of work is done to ensure that it’s fit for cosmetic usage. First, the toxin is extracted. Then, it goes through an intense purification process and ends with the product being vacuum-dried. Patients get Botox in Langley because of its real-time results and ability to “turn back the clock.”
How Does Botox Work in Cosmetics?
In 1989, the F.D.A. approved the use of Botox for eye muscle problems and blepharospasm. Since the original procedure approval, the product has become a go-to in the anti-aging industry. Botox is injected into the muscle directly to stop the hyperactivity in the muscle. Patients will notice physical appearance changes for up to two weeks as the treatment continues to block the nerve signal responsible for muscle contraction while the results will last upwards of 3-4 months.
Botox treatments:
Improve wrinkles and fine lines
Slow new wrinkle formation
However, the treatment is only effective on wrinkles caused by muscle contraction. Wrinkles can also be caused by sleep and gravity lines, so these types of wrinkles will remain. When we administer Botox in our Langley clinic, we choose the facial muscles to treat carefully to maximize the effectiveness of the treatment.
The best part?
Botox doesn’t:
Require anesthesia
Involve incisions
Take long. It only takes about 10–15 minutes
Ice or a topical anesthetic can be used to numb the injection site for any patients worried that the injections would hurt.
What Side Effects Exist with Botox?
Most of our patients have minimal-to-no side effects after treatment. However, the most common side effects that we do see are minor discomfort or bruising. Patients can return to normal activity quickly and the symptoms will subside within a day or two.
With every procedure, there are certain individuals who may experience additional side effects, such as:
Asthma, rash or itching if they experience an allergic reaction
Dry eyes
Double vision or dizzyness
Headaches
Neck pain
Tiredness
Swelling and/or eyelid area drooping (when the area is treated)
Flu-like symptoms
Bruising at the injection site
Our team in Langley is always available if you do have side effects. Patients should call us immediately to help ease their side effects, but most will have no issues at all because of our highly specialized injection technique.
How Safe is Botox?
Botox has a very high safety profile, with side effects seen in less than 2% of patients. In our office, we make it a point to educate all of our patients and make safety a top priority. The health of our patients is our main concern, and if you have any side effects, please call the office staff immediately.
These symptoms, when they do occur, are often mild and short-lived.
Delayed Side Effects
Allergic reactions are rare, but if they do occur, they will happen after the 48-hour mark in many patients. The reaction is often mild and consists of a mild rash and or itching.
How Common is Botox?
Facial rejuvenation is extremely popular, and Botox is the leading treatment. The procedure is common in:
Canada – 18000+ treatments per month
U.S.A. – 4.4 million people in 2020 alone
Brazil – 7 million sessions per year
Botox treatments are increasing worldwide, and there are a lot of people in British Columbia and Vancouver scheduling these treatments. B.C. has the greatest number of residents scheduling treatment of any province in Canada.
Interestingly the leading user of Botox in British Columbia is B.C. Children’s Hospital. Children with muscle disorders can receive up to 2 – 3,000 units of Botox per session.
What Does Cosmetic Botox Treat?
Cosmetic Botox has many benefits, including helping with:
Horizontal and vertical forehead lines
Crow's feet
Squint lines
Upper and lower lip lines
Chin lines
Neck lines
“Nasal” scrunch
Brow-lifts
Botox can also help with excessive sweating and may be used in conjunction with other treatments to help like Kybella (fat loss) or Juvederm (skin filler).
Understanding Your Botox Procedure
We perform Botox in Langley regularly, but it’s always a good idea to familiarize yourself with the procedure so that you know what to expect. Our procedure will go something like this:
Come into our office so that we can map out the proper treatment for you. This includes taking high quality photographs, marking out injection locations and discussing dosages and costs.
We'll provide a consent form, which everyone needs to read and sign before a procedure begins
We'll recline you back and make sure you are comfortable
Lidocaine or an ice pack can be applied to the injection site to numb the area but it's typically not required
Our doctor will then inject the treatment areas determined when mapping out the muscles to target at both rest and dynamic wrinkles
Since the entire process lasts 30 minutes or less from start to finish, many residents of Langley will have their treatment performed during their lunch breaks. You can even return to work after the treatment, so it never impacts your daily routine.
However, we do ask that all of our patients:
Relax during the treatment
Remain confident in our team
If you relax and put trust in our team, you’ll experience the best results from your Botox. Because the procedure is relatively painless,sedation, is never required you can return to your normal routine after treatment.
There are a few things you’ll want to avoid post-procedure.
Post-Procedure Recommendations
The first few hours after your Botox injections are the most important, and a few recommendations that we have to maximize your results are:
Don’t touch the injection site, itch up and away from the sites if needed
Remain in an upright position for 3 – 4 hours, ie:do not fall asleep
Avoid facial treatments or harsh sunlight for a few days
Skip intense exercise sessions for the day
If you follow these steps and remain patient, you’ll love the results that you see in the mirror. Every day for the first four days or so is when you’ll notice the largest improvement. However, you may not notice the full extent of the enhancement for two weeks.
Follow-Up Sessions
Many patients will pre-book their appointment once the first injections are complete, but you can also schedule your appointment when you first notice the wrinkles returning.
Pre-Procedure Precautions
We want your Botox session to be a success. However, we also need your help to ensure that treatment is successful. Before coming in for your treatment, we ask you to:
Reschedule if you have an infection or rash at the treatment site.
Tell us if you’ve had any allergic reactions to Botox in the past or experienced hypersensitivity.
Alert us if you have weak or atrophied muscles.
We also need to know the following before treatment because it may mean being unable to receive Botox or changing the treatment plan:
Any allergies you may have to cow’s milk
Laser rejuvenation plans
Medical conditions resulting in facial weakness
If you're pregnant, breastfeeding or lactating
Suffer from A.L.S., Lou Gehrig’s disease or other neuromuscular disorders
If you’re upfront and honest with us before treatment, we’ll have a much easier time maximizing the results of your Botox treatment. Botox can be done at any time but we can achieve stunning results when we can combine treatment with smile makeovers.
How Much Will My Botox Treatment Cost?
Botox injection prices are $10 - $15 per unit, but our normal cost is around $10 per unit at our Botox clinic in Langley. However, there are a variety of factors that must be considered to determine the overall cost.
Most patients will spend $300 - $2,000 for each session.
Costs are calculated based on:
Unit cost
Treatment area
The severity of the issue
If you have deep-set wrinkles and need your forehead and lip areas treated, it will cost more than someone who is just having their wrinkles appear.
Some patients come into our office as young as in their 20s to get what people call “baby Botox.” These patients do not have wrinkles or fine lines yet, but they seek treatment to prevent them, and that’s exactly what Botox can do. Older patients with more distinct, set wrinkles will require higher units of Botox and a more advanced treatment to turn back the clock. Dr Sidhu will analyze your face and determine costs based on numerous factors, such as how deep the wrinkles are or how high your “gummy smile” goes.
Of course, your wants will also be considered because we always want the best for our patients.
Here’s a sample of pricing:
$120 - $325 for Forehead lines (10 – 25 units)
$240 - $480 for Frown lines (20 – 40 units)
$144 - $384 for Crow’s feet (12 – 32 units)
$60 - $180 for Bunny lines (5 – 15 units)
$1,800 for Therapeutic TMD (150 units)
G.S.T. is applied at our Langley office for cosmetic treatments, but therapeutic injections in the following area are exempt:
Masseter
Temporalis
Injections in the masseter are a prime example of when we may recommend higher unit amounts for treatment. For example, a 50-unit injection will provide a 90%+improvement and last longer than a 25-unit injection.
Depending on the treatment that you choose, the procedure may or may not be covered by private insurance. For example, if you have severe migraines or pain and want to try Botox to relieve the pain insurance is still unlikely to cover these costs.
Issues With Pricing Botox by Units
Unit pricing is difficult to give without asking you to come to the office. If a treatment may take 10 – 40 units of Botox, that’s a significant price difference. Instead, we utilize precise software that will allow us to:
Analyze pictures of your wrinkles
Determine wrinkle intensity
Estimate cost prior to treatment
Utilizing software, it’s easier for us to provide you with a true estimate for your Botox treatment.
Budget-friendly Means Dissatisfaction
Patients who are price-conscious often end up dissatisfied with their results. When you worry too much about price and want lower units than we recommend, it will lead to you being unsatisfied.
“Cheap”Botox treatments mean that we aren’t allowed to help you achieve the bestresults possible.
Note: Prices for treatments may have also risen if you had treatment a while ago. We may also need to use more units as you age, so this is something to consider, too.
Finally, wrinkles are also connected. If we treat only the deepest wrinkle, it may not provide the results that you want.
Dysport® vs. Botox®
Dysport® and Botox® are two products that a lot of our potential patients research prior to coming into our office. The two are both from the same exotoxin A, so they can provide very similar results but we find that Dysport allows for a faster onset and a longer effective duration.
We still may use either product but patients who suffer from lactose allergies are better served with Botox cosmetic.
Understanding the Facial Aging Process
The facial aging process is the reason we look older over time. When you’re young, you look your best because your skin still has its elasticity, collagen and moisture.
However,age catches up to us and the very substructure of your face changes
The changes that will begin to take place include:
1. Skin Maturity
As you age, there’s less hyaluronic acid, collagen and elastin. Youthful skin allows all of these components to move freely within your skin layers, but this free movement slows as we age and wrinkles and skin folds form because the dermis layer of the skin begins to thin.
Loss of collagen leads to a cascading effect where you lose fat in your skin and a lower hyaluronic acid level results in drier skin. Elastin also begins to deplete over time, making the skin less elastic. This loss of elasticity causes the skin to sag and wrinkle.
2. Fat Pad Changes in the Face
Fat is a crucial component in your face’s overall look. As facial fat loss occurs, the fold between your nose and mouth will deepen. The cheeks will begin to get the “deflated” look, and upper-fat loss will lead to ptosis (fat drooping down).
Fat loss occurs in the following areas:
Cheeks
Medial Cheek
Nasal area
Jowl
Multiple layers of facial fat are impacted by fat loss. The result?
Your face will begin to look “hollow.” Heaviness around the jowls and hollowing of the eyes will begin. In the upper face, the effects look even more drastic because there’s not much fat present in this area anyway.
Many people will notice that their cheeks appear chubby or fuller, especially in the middle of the face.
3. Bone Structure Changes
While all of these changes, there are also facial bone changes that occur. These changes will begin slowly at the age of 35 as the body’s cells, responsible for bone regeneration in the face, begin to decrease.
The decrease in these cells leads to:
Flattened cheeks
Widening of the bones around the eyes
Hollow eyes
Less bone also impacts the way your skin and fat sit on the bone. Facial tissues will eventually become too large for the bone to support, and this will make your wrinkles and skin folds more prominent.
If you pay close attention to the face of a baby and an elderly person, you’ll notice they actually resemble each other. Babies may not have deep wrinkles, but their “chubby” faces are made more prominent because they have too much facial fat for their developing facial bones to support. However, by the time you’re in your 20s, you’ll hit your physical “peak” of facial perfection.
Naturally, over the next few decades, the smile lines deepen, bone loss occurs, and soft tissue will begin to change. You grow into your proportions between the time of your birth and your 20s. Then, the following will begin:
Skeletal support reductions
Nasal bone reabsorption
Downward nose rotation
Your mandibular length and even your alveolar ridge will change. This can impact dental treatment including crown and bridge planning, dental implants and multiple aspects of cosmetic dentistry.
Add in changes to your posture, and you’ll find that you hunch slightly over, leading to more prominent wrinkles in the neck area, too.
4. Hard and Soft Tissue Loss
Soft tissue loss is what most people associate with aging, but this is certainly not the case, as this 40+-year-old study supports. Researchers were determined to follow a person’s skeletal growth from the time they were born into their young adulthood.Thefindings were surprising and included:
Longitude growth in the facial skeleton
The entire face by young adulthood becomes deeper in respect to the anterior and posterior plane
The entire face also became longer
All of this occurs as you age, and the results are expansion in the ridges of the face, greater depth and even lateral expansion of a person’s cheeks. Nasal changes were significant, with the nasal area experiencing an increase in vertical dimensions, width and length. Chin prominence also increases.
What is Brow Hooding (A.K.A. Hooded Eyes)?
Brow hooding, or hooded eyes, develop when excess skin sags or folds down from the brow line. Hooding is more noticeable around the outer edges of the eyes, where the eyebrow meets the temple.
In some cases, the skin below the eyebrow droops all the way down to the eyelashes. It may cover all or part of the eyelid, leaving just a crease behind.
While brow hooding generally does not cause any medical issues, hooded eyes can impair vision in severe cases. For some, it can also cause anxiety and self-esteem issues, which can impact their quality of life.
Careful makeup application can help open up the eye and reduce the hooded appearance, but the doctor may also recommend blepharoplasty.
While hooded eyes are often associated with aging, they can also be caused by genetics. Your genetics determines the shapes of your eyes. If you have parents or grandparents with hooded eyes, there’s a good chance that you will have them as well.
Some people develop hooded eyes as they age and the skin around their eyes loses its elasticity and volume. As the skin loses its tone, it begins to sag and may cause the eyebrow to droop down. The drooping causes a hooded effect, covering the eyelid.
Can Botox Be Used to Treat Hooded Eyes?
In most cases, hooded eyes don’t require medical treatment. That said, many people feel that their hooded eyes age them or make them look tired. For aesthetic purposes, these individuals may want to change their appearance.
Makeup can make hooded eyes look bigger and more open, but the effect only lasts until the makeup is washed off.
For those who want a longer-lasting treatment for hooded eyes, there are several non-surgical treatment options.
These include:
Botox Injections
To treat hooded eyes, Botox can be injected into the edge of the eyebrow to give it a slight lift. Successful treatment requires a skilled practitioner (like us) who knows where to position the injection. A poorly positioned injection can make the eyebrow droop even further and have the opposite effect.
Laser Therapy
With laser therapy, the top layer of the skin is removed to smooth and reduce the appearance of wrinkles.
Dermal Fillers
Although dermal fillers are traditionally used to plump the skin and smooth wrinkles, they can also be used to lift the brow and tighten up the skin surrounding the eye.
Eye Drops
Prescription eye drops such as Upneeq can also help treat hooded eyes. These eye drops are ideal for patients with mild to moderate droopy eyelids. However, they may not work for you if you have an eye injury or underlying nerve problems contributing to your hooded eyes.
Thread Lifts
Another way to treat hooded eyes is with thread lifts, where temporary stitches are put in place to pull the eyebrow back. While this treatment can be effective, it’s only suitable for people with mild to moderate hooded eyes. Thread lifts only lift the brow a few milliliters, so if you have severe hooding, it may not make a noticeable difference.
For those who are open to surgical procedures, a brow lift may also be an option. However, the American Academy of Surgical Surgery cautions that this procedure isn’t for everyone.
Botox and Crow’s Feet: What You Need to Know
Crow's feet are the wrinkles that develop along the outer edges of the eyes. They’re shaped like crow’s feet, which is where the name comes from. As we age, our skin starts to lose its natural oils and elasticity, which makes it more prone to wrinkles.
Things like pollution, sun exposure and other damage caused by free radicals can make crow’s feet and other wrinkles even more prominent.
Crow’s feet are normal and a natural part of the aging process, but you may wish to reduce their appearance or help prevent them from progressing.
Are Crow’s Feet and Fine Lines the Same Thing?
Many people assume that crow’s feet and fine lines are the same thing, but there’s a difference between the two.
Fine lines are narrow and shallow.
Crow’s feet are caused by muscle contraction.
Because fine lines aren’t as deep or wide as crow’s feet, they can be treated using different products and procedures, such as dermal fillers.
Can You Prevent Crow’s Feet?
While there’s no surefire way to prevent crow’s feet, you can take steps to protect your skin and reduce the risk.
The best preventative step you can take is to wear sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30 every day. Choose a waterproof sunscreen if you’re in the water regularly or highly active.
Moisturizing is another important thing you can do to prevent crow’s feet. Specially formulated eye creams often contain ingredients like vitamin C, niacinamide and retinol to help keep the skin around your eyes looking youthful.
How Do You Treat Crow’s Feet?
There are two primary ways to treat crow’s feet: Botox and dermal fillers.
Botox: The standard treatment for crow’s feet is Botox, which blocks acetylcholine (the chemical needed for muscle contraction). Typically, we will do injections along the corner of the eyes or along the band below each eye. Preventing muscle contraction helps smooth away the appearance of crow’s feet wrinkles temporarily.
Fillers: Dermal fillers are another option for treating crow’s feet. These are injected into the under-eye areas to plump up the skin and make them look more youthful.
If you’re not crazy about using fillers or Botox, you can try:
Topical antioxidants. These products help fight free radicals that destroy elastin and collagen.
Wearing sunglasses year-round to protect the skin around your eyes from U.V. damage.
Botox and Jowls: What You Need to Know
Aging affects all areas of the face, including the lower face. In fact, the jawline and jowl are some of the first areas to be affected by aging, and they can create a heavy-looking face.
Jowls are saggy skin that develop under the chin. Everyone develops them to some degree, but they can be more prominent in some people.
Like any other sign of aging, jowls develop due to a loss in collagen and elasticity as you age. Collagen is what keeps your skin connected to other tissues, but it also prevents dropping and sagging. As we age and our bodies produce less collagen, we lose that elasticity and volume that gave us our youthful appearance.
Gravity and less collagen make the skin on our necks and jaws shift downward, causing jowls.
Along with natural aging, jowls can also be caused by:
Repetitive facial movement habits
A sedentary lifestyle
Rapid weight loss
Poor diet low in healthy fats and antioxidants
Sun exposure
Stress
Genetics
Chronic dehydration
Alcohol and tobacco use
Poor personal hygiene
Overgrooming
Physical trauma
Chronic illness
Treating Jowls
Jowls are natural and harmless, so there’s no need to medically correct them in most cases. However, they can cause issues with self-esteem and anxiety in some people. The mental health benefits may make treatment worthwhile. Common treatment options for jowls include:
Unfortunately, Botox is not an effective treatment for jowls.
Botox and Neck Lines: What You Need Know
Aging can also cause neck lines or necklace lines. These lines are caused by the platysma muscle in the neck, which runs from the chest up the sides of the neck to the lower face and jawline.
Overtime, the platysma muscle starts to wear out. At the same time, the skin around this area loses its elasticity and volume. As a result, the platysma muscle becomes more prominent and creates bands that are called platysmal bands.
Initially, you may only notice these bands when you contract this muscle, but over time, they will be visible even when you’re relaxed, eating or talking.
Can Neck Botox Treat Neck Lines?
Botox injections are commonly used to treat neck lines. To help smooth out these lines and create a more youthful appearance, Botox is injected into the platysma muscle.
The procedure is simple and straight forward. You may be asked to contract and relax the platysma muscle several times so that we can see the lines more clearly and find the ideal place for the injection.
Botox weakens the platysma muscle, making its movement very limited and minimizing its appearance. With the muscle unable to contract, it also makes the neck look tighter and softer.
Neck Botox can indirectly improve the look of jowls and tighten up the jawline because the platysma muscle runs all the way up to the jaw area. Although as mentioned alternative treatments are needed to address jowls more effectively.
Temporomandibular Disorders (TMD) and Botox: What You Need to Know
It's estimated that more than a million Canadians are affected by TMD at any given time. The majority of these individuals (80%) are females between the ages of 18 and 35. About a quarter of the people affected by TMD will seek out professional care. Treatment often involves several medical professionals, including:
General physicians
Chiropractors
Orthopedics
Dentists
Acupuncturists
Homeopathic practitioners
One common side effect of TMD is tension headaches, which can be severe and painful. Most tension headaches originate in the Masseter or Temporalis muscle. They can cause constant pressure and moderate pain that can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Sometimes the symptoms can be incorrectly diagnosed as root canal pain or wisdom teeth soreness.
Causes include:
Stress
Teeth clenching
Eyestrain
Hunger
Uncomfortable posture
Sleep deprivation
It’s common for mastication muscles to cause headaches. These include the following muscles:
Temporalis
Masseter
Medial Pterygoid
Mylohyoid
Lateral pterygoid
Platysma
Digastrics
Additionally, your ligaments may also contribute to the development of TMD. There are several ligaments in the mandible alone that can be stressed and strained.
Treating TMD
Currently, there are only a handful of accepted treatments for TMD. These include:
Cognitive assessments to address psychological causes
Lasers or ultrasound therapy
Myogenic therapy – Botox injections
Botox treatment is typically for 1-2 years. The goal of this treatment is to retrain the brain to stop grinding and clenching.
How Does Botox Help With TMD?
As you know, Botox stops muscles from contracting by preventing the release of acetylcholine. In this case, Botox would allow the jaw to relax and allow for repair of damaged ligaments or muscles.
Additionally, Botox interferes with the body’s release of pain markers like glutamate and substance P.
Botox injections are commonly paired with laser light therapy and nightguards to help treat TMD.
How Much Botox is Used to Treat TMD?
While every patient is unique and treatment is individualized, generally, the treatment involves:
25 units in each temporalis muscle
50 units in each masseter muscle
That equates to about 150 units, as you can see from the study above it's possible for 25% of people to get relief with a lower dosage but the results last about half as long and it takes twice as long to get to a pain relief state. It’s important to note that while Botox can be effective for TMD, those who have chronic pain may not experience the same level of relief as those with acute pain.
Botox injections can be used in a wide range of applications, from TMD to signs of aging. Call our office today to learn more about Botox in Langley and schedule a consultation.
