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Combining different but complementary procedures has been shown to be a highly effective way to reduce wrinkles and achieve a youthful appearance. Using procedures that each use different approaches can allow one to address multiple aspects of aging simultaneously, leading to superior, longer-lasting results.

Why Combine Treatments?

Combining treatments like Botox, fillers, and laser resurfacing offers a holistic approach to wrinkle reduction by addressing multiple factors that may contribute to the problem. Botox can be used to smooth dynamic wrinkles by relaxing facial muscles, while dermal fillers restore lost volume, and laser resurfacing or chemical peels can improve skin texture and tone. In this way, results can be achieved that are greater than the sum of the individual treatments.

Key Combination Therapies

• Botox and Fillers: This highly popular combination addresses both dynamic wrinkles and lost volume. Botox relaxes wrinkle-causing muscles, while fillers add volume to areas with thinning skin, creating a smoother, more youthful appearance.
• Laser Resurfacing and Chemical Peels: Ideal for deep wrinkles and pigmentation issues, this combination reduces fine lines and reveals fresher, younger skin. Laser resurfacing improves texture, while chemical peels remove dead skin cells.
• Skinvive by Juvéderm: A new addition to anti-aging treatments, Skinvive by Juvéderm enhances skin hydration and elasticity. When combined with other treatments like fillers or laser therapy, it significantly improves skin quality, resulting in a smoother, more radiant complexion.

Advantages of Combination Treatments

The primary benefit of combining multiple anti-aging treatments is the potential to achieve more comprehensive and effective results. By addressing multiple signs of aging simultaneously, these therapies can create a synergistic effect, leading to faster, more noticeable improvements. Attacking problems simultaneously from multiple directions can create noticeably superior results.

A secondary benefit is the reduction in overall recovery time. Instead of undergoing multiple treatments over extended periods, patients can combine them into fewer sessions, minimizing downtime. This is particularly appealing to those with busy lifestyles who want to see results while minimizing interruptions to their daily routines. Combining treatments can often lead to longer-lasting results, as each procedure enhances and supports the effects of the others.

Strategic Timing for Optimal Results

Applying multiple overlapped treatments effectively is not necessarily simple to achieve. The schedule will have to take many different factors into account – treatments may need to be spaced out or sequenced in a particular order to allow the skin to recover and respond effectively, while it may also be advantageous to perform some procedures in a particular order. For this reason, you will want to ensure that your provider is experienced in overlapping different procedures in this way. An inexperienced or under-trained practitioner can very easily create results that are worse than the sum of the parts. You don’t want to be a guinea pig while your practitioner learns what combinations work or don’t work together.

Creating a Customized Plan

You’ll want to discuss the best way to combine benefits from multiple procedures with your provider. They should be ready to work with you to create a customized plan, taking into account your particular needs and desires, while also ensuring that your individual situation (including your genetic background and medical history) is taken into account.

Schedule an Appointment with Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience performing multiple, overlapping procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Facial contouring and slimming have become increasingly popular, with Botox injections offering a highly effective and non-surgical solution. Here are three ways that Botox can be used to help achieve a better defined and slimmer facial profile.

Jawline Slimming

Botox can be injected into the masseter muscles, which are responsible for chewing. Overdeveloped masseter muscles can create a wider, more square jawline. By relaxing these muscles using Botox, the muscles will gradually become smaller, resulting in a slimmer, more V-shaped jawline. This technique is especially beneficial for individuals seeking to soften a square jaw or reduce the appearance of a heavy lower face.

Results typically start to become noticeable in 1 week, with full effects taking around 2 weeks.

The reduction in the size of the masseter muscles needed to achieve the desired results will not have any effect on your ability to eat or speak – masseter muscles are extremely powerful, among the strongest muscles in the body.

Cheek Contouring

Botox can also be used to achieve subtle cheek contouring. By targeting specific muscles, Botox can help lift and define the cheekbones, creating a more sculpted look. This technique can be used to enhance the natural contours of the face, contributing to a slimmer appearance.

Results from this procedure usually start to show within 1 week, with optimal results by around 2 weeks.

Neck and Jowl Tightening

Injecting Botox into the platysma muscle in the neck can help to tighten sagging skin and reduce jowls. This technique helps to refine the neck and lower face, providing a more contoured and youthful profile. By smoothing the neck area and reducing the prominence of jowls, the overall facial structure will appear slimmer and more defined.

Results from this procedure usually start to show within 1 week, with optimal results by 2 weeks.

Benefits of Using Botox for Facial Contouring and Slimming

Botox offers a non-invasive alternative to surgical procedures for facial contouring and slimming, with minimal downtime and reduced risk. The procedure is relatively quick, often completed within 15-30 minutes. The effects of Botox develop gradually, allowing for a natural transition to a slimmer face without sudden changes in your appearance.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience in performing Botox procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Dermal fillers are a popular choice for those looking to enhance their appearance without the costs, discomfort, and complications of undergoing surgery. But it will quickly become apparent to anyone looking at available dermal filler products, there are a very large number of different formulations available, each with different characteristics.

This blog will summarize the main differences between different dermal fillers, as well as the length of results you can expect from some of the most popular products.

Main Factors Influencing Filler Longevity

We can identify the main factors that come into play when determining how long you might expect the results of a dermal filler procedure to last. A person’s metabolism, level of physical activity, and even their genetic background can also influence filler longevity.

Concentration

The primary ingredient of all dermal fillers is hyaluronic acid (HA). The concentration of HA used varies widely; products with higher concentrations generally have higher viscosity, and resist break-down or absorption longer than lower-concentration products.

Viscosity

Viscosity plays the primary role in determining where any dermal filler will provide the best results. Viscosity is increased by using various technologies to give the filler more long-range firmness. Some fillers use cross-linked polymers, while others use more sophisticated combinations of high and low molecular weight hyaluronic acid formulations to achieve similar results.

High-viscosity fillers are thicker and more gel-like, they can be used in areas that need more structural strength, such as filling in sunken cheeks. Low-viscosity fillers are smoother and more liquid. they are used to fill fine lines and delicate facial areas. They are also more prone to absorption by the body, and therefore typically give results for shorter lengths of time.

Particle Size

The size of particles making up the filler can also be controlled; here, larger particles tend to be used when the long-range structure is desirable, and smaller particles result in a less viscous filler more suited to delicate areas.

Juvederm Family Fillers

Juvederm is one of two popular sources of dermal fillers, with a large number of different filler products and formulations. These are the principal differences:

• Juvederm Voluma is intended for use, adding volume to the cheeks. It’s one of the longer-lasting fillers, giving results lasting up to two years.
• Juvederm Ultra is used for lip enhancement and treating nasolabial folds. Its smoothed consistency typically gives results lasting around one year.
• Juvederm Vollure is used to treat moderate to severe wrinkles and folds. It provides a balance between smoothness and thickness; results last around a year and a half.
• Juvederm Volbella is used for lip augmentation, and to treat fine lines. Results are typically up to one year.

Restylane Family Fillers

The other main dermal filler family is Restylane, offering fillers with these characteristics:

• Restylane Defyne and Refyne are used to treat deeper lines and wrinkles. Results last for up to one year.
• Restylane Lyft is used mainly for cheek augmentation; results last for up to one year.
• Restylane Silk is used for delicate wrinkle treatment around the mouth. Results last for around ten months.
• Restylane Kysse is formulated for lip augmentation. Results last for up to nine months.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience in performing dermal filler procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

There is a huge variation in how different people smile—not only in the degree to which their faces become animated but also in the amount of teeth and gum exposed. In some cases, smiling reveals a significant portion of the gum area, commonly referred to as a gummy smile.

If you’re happy with the way you smile, all’s well and good. However, Botox can offer a simple, effective, and non-surgical solution for those who wish they didn’t show so much of their gum area. Correcting one’s smile with Botox can help create a more balanced and confident appearance, significantly improving self-confidence.

Causes of Gummy Smiles

Understanding the cause of a gummy smile is essential when evaluating how Botox can help. Gummy smiles can result from hyperactive upper lip muscles, which cause the upper lip to rise too high and reveal more gum tissue. Other common causes include having an unusually short upper lip, excessive gum tissue growth, or simply having a particular combination of genetic factors that control one’s lip shape, gum size, and jaw structure.

How Can Botox Help?

Botox, or Botulinum toxin, works by blocking (fully or partially) nerve signals that cause muscles to contract.

If a gummy smile is due to hyperactive muscles that elevate the upper lip too far, then injecting Botox into these specific muscles can limit the movement of the upper lip. This results in the reduction or elimination of gum exposure when smiling.

The Botox Procedure

The initial part of the Botox procedure is a thorough examination of the patient’s facial anatomy, the way that their facial muscles activate when smiling, and any significant medical history. The complex ways that these factors interact will allow an experienced practitioner to decide how effectively Botox can be used to resolve the problem.

Using Botox effectively also involves carefully checking that any problem is not over-corrected. The objective is not just to correct this one specific issue but to do so while ensuring that the patient’s smile remains balanced and natural-looking.

Once the practitioner has identified the specific locations where Botox is to be applied, as well as the amount of Botox to be used, the procedure can begin. After cleaning the area to be treated, a topical anesthetic is applied, and the procedure continues with the injection of Botox using very fine needles. The process normally takes no more than 15 minutes.

Time For Results to Develop

Initial results normally develop within 3 to 5 days, while the full results may take a week or two to develop.

Botox does not have a permanent effect – the actual duration of the benefits from a Botox treatment varies between patients, but typically lasts 3 or 4 months before a repeat procedure may be required. Future treatments can take into account how effectively the problem was treated, and fine-tune the approach if required.

Choosing a Practitioner

The way we smile is a very important part of the way we present ourselves to others. It’s extremely important that any treatment results in a natural-looking smile. The skill and experience of the practitioner are a vital part of accomplishing this; you should not assume that everyone performing Botox treatments is equally competent. It really pays to take the time to question practitioners and see examples of their work before deciding who is to perform the procedure for you.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience in performing Botox procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Botox is used very widely and can provide good results when administered by a qualified and experienced practitioner. Evaluating how well a treatment works is not just a matter of looking at the treated area to see if the skin is smooth and wrinkle-free; it also involves examining the entirety of the face to see if the results look natural. Looking natural can mean that the results look symmetrical, but it also means that the treated area does not unnaturally stand out from the rest of the face but is integrated harmoniously.

Experienced Botox practitioners will often recommend using Botox in more areas than just the primary region being treated. Bear in mind that the goal of Botox is not just to reduce wrinkles but to create a balanced, refreshed look. Here are some examples of why confining Botox treatments to a specific area may not always give the optimal results.

Treating Forehead Lines

Forehead lines are generally treated by applying Botox to the muscles responsible for raising and lowering the eyebrows. The Botox injections partially relax these muscles, and limit their range of motion.

However, if Botox is confined to the specific muscles linked to forehead wrinkles, the resulting effect can look quite unnatural. We generally use our forehead muscles in conjunction with other facial muscles, particularly those linked to the area between our eyebrows, which create vertical (glabellar) lines above the nose. Using Botox to treat the forehead without also treating the glabellar lines risks creating a sagging, heavy-looking brow area.

The solution is to treat the forehead muscles at the same time as the glabellar lines. It’s also important to avoid over-enthusiastic use of Botox. A slightly less smooth forehead is preferable if the result looks more natural.

Treating Crow’s Feet

Botox is often used to treat crow’s feet, the lines that form on the outsides of our eyes. But limiting Botox use to this area can result in the rest of the face looking unbalanced, and end up making the overall face look older, instead of the desired youthful appearance.

The solution is to avoid creating a contrast between the treated and adjacent untreated areas. Expanding treatment to include dermal fillers can create more integrated and cohesive improvements. By smoothing lines around the eyes and providing a subtle lift to the cheeks, the overall harmony of the face is enhanced.

Treating the Jawline

Botox is often used to slim the jawline by targeting the large masseter muscles used for chewing. Limiting treatment to these over-prominent muscles can sometimes create an unbalanced and unnatural appearance. Creating a well-defined jawline can draw attention to any sagging skin or wrinkles in the neck or chin areas.

In this case, extending Botox use to include any neck bands can provide a more aesthetic neck profile, and using dermal fillers on the chin area will improve the general contours of the lower face. Together these treatments complement each other and combine to create a more natural look to the face.

Choosing the Right Provider

Using Botox effectively requires a variety of quite different skills. It’s important to choose a medically qualified and experienced practitioner who can identify the precise anatomical elements connected to the area being treated. You also want someone with artistic flair and imagination to envision the changes that can result from any Botox injection, and ensure that these results combine to create natural, integrated improvements.

Using Botox effectively requires not only identifying the optimum places to inject it, but also using the correct amount to avoid totally immobilizing muscles, while leaving enough freedom of movement to allow normal facial expressions to be displayed.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience in performing Botox procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Botox is being used in an increasing number of different applications. One area that’s becoming popular is the Botox brow lift. This blog will discuss this particular usage.

Why Would Your Eyebrows Need Lifting?

There are several reasons why you might be unhappy with your current eyebrows. The most common is a result of the loss of skin elasticity and weakening muscles that are a normal part of the aging process. Together, these can result in eyebrows sagging, which can make you look older and fatigued.

The eyebrows play a key role in the way we communicate and signal emotions. Subtle changes to the eyebrow profile can enhance our ability to communicate. Having asymmetric or unequal eyebrows can be a cause of unhappiness; adjusting one or the other to increase facial symmetry can improve self-confidence.

There are also purely cosmetic reasons – enhancing the arc of one’s eyebrows may be preferred for aesthetic reasons; this adjustment may also have the effect of enhancing the appearance of one’s eyes, making one look more alert and awake.

How Can Botox Be Used to Alleviate This Condition?

In common with all other uses of Botox, injecting Botox selectively into muscles will temporarily block nerve signals from causing the muscles to contract. Judicious and careful application of Botox in and around the eyebrows can prevent certain muscles from pulling the eyebrows downward, while allowing others to continue to pull them upwards.

When administered by a skilled practitioner, Botox can subtly lift the eyebrows, enhance facial symmetry, and contribute to a refreshed appearance. This careful application ensures that while the eyebrows are lifted, they retain the ability to move naturally, allowing for expressive emotions and maintaining a natural look.

Additionally, Botox is beneficial for smoothing lines that often form between the eyebrows, commonly referred to as frown lines. This not only helps in achieving a more youthful look, but also helps to soften expressions, which can appear less harsh or severe.

The Benefits of Using Botox to Lift Eyebrows

Botox offers many advantages over traditional surgical solutions. It is minimally invasive, does not require anesthesia or cutting of the skin, and does not necessitate a lengthy recovery period afterwards.

It’s also a very quick procedure, perhaps taking as little as 10 or 15 minutes; this allows you to immediately resume your normal activities. Side effects are minimal, and any minor bruising or swelling should disappear quickly.

The full effects will develop in the days following treatment. These gradual changes will make improvements appear more natural.

Choosing Your Practitioner

Choosing the right practitioner is crucial, especially for Botox treatments aimed at lifting eyebrows. Performing these treatments while ensuring that your face continues to look natural requires considerable skill and expertise. You will be best served by a practitioner who is not only medically qualified but also has significant experience in this particular procedure.

Doctors with anatomical expertise are ideally suited to identify the specific muscles that need to be targeted. A doctor with aesthetic skills will know how best to adapt the procedure to your individual needs while also minimizing any side effects from the procedure.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience in performing Botox procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.

Botox is very widely accessible and is many people’s go-to solution for reducing visible facial aging caused by fine lines and wrinkles. Despite its great popularity, periodically, concerns are raised about its potential to cause severe side effects, including even brain damage. This post will shed light on this claim and try to separate fact from fiction.

The Botox Product

Botox is actually extracted from a highly toxic neurotoxin derived from the botulinum bacterium. The extraction process refines and decontaminates the bacteria until it’s so highly diluted and purified that it’s considered safe to use in the very controlled circumstances of metered injections performed by trained practitioners.

Botox underwent a very strict and lengthy testing process before it became approved for cosmetic use. The US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has classified Botox as approved for treating moderate to severe forehead lines, frown lines, and crow’s feet (fine lines at the corner of the eyes) in adults. Botox was initially approved for some medical purposes back in 1989; its approval for cosmetic use dates back to 2002.

Potential Botox Side-Effects

Along with almost any medication or cosmetic treatment, it is possible (although highly unlikely) for some patients to experience adverse reactions. Any chance of having unwanted side effects is minimized by going to a medically trained and experienced practitioner, preferably a doctor. They should go into your past medical history and be able to identify patients who might have an elevated risk of side effects. They can also quickly identify and treat any unwanted side effects that might develop.

When the correct dosages of Botox are used by a trained and qualified practitioner, Botox is considered very safe. Choosing a medical doctor as your practitioner is the best way to reduce any risks to the absolute minimum.

Botulinum and Brain Damage

The botulinum bacteria from which Botox is extracted is also the cause of botulism, a thankfully rare but very serious illness that can affect nerves throughout the body. It causes muscle weakness or even paralysis, which can impair breathing and can prove fatal in some cases.

Botulism symptoms generally start with muscle weakness around the face, mouth, and throat. They can also spread through the torso and out to the limbs.

Botulism results in muscle paralysis but does not affect the brain. The only way that botulism could have any effect on the brain is in extreme cases where respiration is so affected that blood supply to the brain is reduced to the point that brain damage is caused by lack of oxygen.

Legal and Illegal Botox

Botox is a protected trademark of Allergan Inc., which is part of the AbbVie company. They are the only source of Botox, and obviously have a very great interest in ensuring that the distribution of their product is limited to licensed professionals. Botox is not sold through any other channels.

There have been some reports of disreputable practitioners and backyard amateurs using illegal counterfeit copies of Botox, which were found to cause higher-than-normal rates of negative side effects.

Research has also identified some cases where the use of illegal Botox copies by amateur “practitioners” has resulted in subtle but detectable changes to brain function. Even these changes would not be classified as brain damage, although they’re certainly unwanted and very concerning.

When Botox is correctly administered, only extremely low concentrations are injected, and the effects are highly localized. That’s why Botox has to be injected at the precise location to affect adjacent muscles.

The conclusion is that there is absolutely no risk of any form of brain damage when Botox is injected with the correct dosage by reputable, licensed practitioners.

Two Interesting Findings

One research study has actually identified one very interesting area where having Botox can actually have the potential to change one’s interpretation of other people’s emotions. Apparently when we encounter others who project their emotions through facial expressions (happy, sad, angry, etc), we have the tendency to unconsciously mimic their expression. As Botox can inhibit our own ability to express emotions, this can actually have a subtle effect on our ability to interpret other people’s expressions.

Conversely, if Botox inhibits your ability to frown, it’s possible that it may also limit the extent to which you are depressed.

Your Laser Skin Care

Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified and have extensive experience in performing Botox procedures. We also have extensive experience with a wide variety of other non-invasive cosmetic procedures. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information. Let us help you achieve your aesthetic goals with confidence.