Anti-wrinkle Treatment

• Forehead Lines (horizontal lines on the forehead when you raise your eyebrows)
• Frown Lines (creases between the eyes)
• Crow’s Feet (lines around the eyes that you can see when you squint)
• Sagging Eyebrows (eyebrow lift)
• Bunny Lines (wrinkling on the sides of nose when you smile)
• Nasal Flaring (flaring of nostrils when emotional)
• Upper Lip Lines (smoker’s lines)
• Dimpled Chin (pebbled chin)
• Downturned Mouth (sad mouth & marionette lines)
• Gummy Smile (showing too much gum when you smile)
• Reduce vertical Neck Bands and loss of jaw definition (Platysma muscle)
• Jaw Slimming and Teeth Grinding (reducing bulk of masseter muscles to trim jaw or for teeth grinding/bruxism)
• Hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating)
• Migraine (for prevention of chronic migraine)

Botulinum toxin is a drug made from a purified protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. It is not animal-based. Botulinum toxin has been used since the 1970s in the field of ophthalmology, and in the last 20 years, its use has expanded to various health scopes, especially dermatology.

Botulinum toxin A is injected intramuscularly and works by inhibiting the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from the motor nerve terminal. This is a form of chemical denervation. Over time (about 3 months) the neuromuscular junction regenerates and muscle activity resumes.

There are three commonly available brands of botulinum toxin available in Ireland on prescription, these are Vistabel (known in Europe as Vistabel and in the US as botox), Azzalure and Bocouture.

Anti-wrinkle injections involve tiny injections into the muscle of botulinum toxin. The toxin partially blocks the nerve impulses and reduces excessive contractions of the muscle. By preventing contraction of the muscle, the muscle is relaxed and elongated and therefore the overlying skin is stretched out over the relaxed, extended muscle. By not using these muscles the skin has some time to recover as well, so that’s also helpful and preventative. This creates a natural softening to your dynamic lines and wrinkles giving you a natural, fresh, and rejuvenated appearance.

Anti-wrinkle injections also temporarily stop our sweat glands being able to release sweat and can therefore be used to treat excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis).

If it is your first anti-wrinkle injection treatment with us, please allow 20 minutes for the consultation and another 10 minutes for the procedure, for subsequent sessions the consultation period is slightly shorter.

During the consultation, your doctor determines your suitability for treatment, explains the procedure and discusses with you the potential side effects of the therapy and how to minimise these. It is important to understand during the consultation your concerns and expectations about what the treatment will achieve.

Photographs of the face and videos of facial expressions are required prior to each treatment and follow-up appointments. This allows for before and after treatment comparison.

The muscle movements of the area(s) to be treated are then assessed, and injection points marked.

The anti-wrinkle injections are injected with a very fine needle and syringe into the pre-marked areas. As a very fine needle is used and generally this treatment is not painful it is usually well tolerated with no topical anaesthetic. However, if you are nervous numbing cream can be applied before injecting. The treatment following consultation will take 5 to 10 minutes depending on how many areas you are having treated.

Botulinum toxin needs a few days to do its job at the cellular level, so in general the initial effect of the injections you’ll notice within three days, and it reaches its peak effect at two weeks post-treatment. The effect of each treatment lasts approximately three months, some people get more time some people less depending on the dose, the texture and thickness of your skin, your age, how much you tend to use the muscles we are trying to relax and your metabolism.

You will notice the effect wearing off gradually, it doesn’t just suddenly stop, so you’ll start to notice some movement returning, but your muscles and metabolism are unique to you and so people get varying amounts of time out of it. If you have repeat treatments at the licenced three-monthly intervals, you will notice that the lines become less and less noticeable and the effect of the treatment appears to be lasting longer, because the muscles have reduced in size from not being used.