How can I make my Botox results last longer?

Botox is one of the most popular cosmetic injectables for a good reason—it can transform your old- and tired-seeming face to a vision of youthful exuberance with just a few shots. All it takes is a few carefully-delivered injections by a board-certified doctor or surgeon, and voila—wrinkle-free skin within a week.

However, like most cosmetic injectables, Botox provides temporary results that usually last for 3 to 6 months. As the Botox starts fading away, your muscles regain their functionality, making the wrinkles reappear on your skin. Over time, as the muscles shrink due to the lack of use, the wrinkles will appear less severe.

However, patients often wonder how they can maintain the results longer. How do you go from needing 4 Botox treatments a year to only 2-3 Botox treatments a year? This article provides valuable insight into how you can maximize your Botox results and reduce the frequency of your follow-up maintenance treatments.

1. Follow the provider’s post-injection instructions accurately.

What you do immediately after the Botox injection plays a massive role in every aspect of your treatment. It affects your recovery, the prominence of the results, the risk of complications, and the treatment’s longevity. Dr. Nadeau provides a detailed set of instructions after your injections—follow them closely. It should be pretty simple.

The following are some post-injection guidelines to follow:

• Move your facial muscles and be as expressive as possible—laugh, smile, frown, yawn, and use your entire range of expressions. Doing so will spread the Botox into all areas of the treated regions, ensuring optimal results.
• Don’t rub or massage your face because that will make the medication spread outside the treated region, which, in turn, will reduce longevity and possibly cause unwanted paralysis.
• Sleep on your back for the first night or two for the same reason mentioned above.

2. Avoid sun exposure and wear a powerful sunscreen. 

Minimizing your exposure to sunlight is a good tip, regardless of Botox treatments. Exposure to the sun makes you age a lot faster, leading to higher visibility of wrinkles and fine lines. It also leads to other skin concerns, such as sunspots and hyperpigmentation. Free radicals from the sun affect your skin cells, elastin, and collagen, leading to more fine lines. While sun exposure doesn’t directly affect the neurotoxin (Botox), it will make you look older.

3. Exercise and workout in moderation. 

Exercises, workouts, and other physically intense activities increase your body’s metabolic rate and lead to muscle inflammation. The increased metabolic rate breaks the Botox particles faster, and the muscle inflammation leads to a higher breakdown of natural proteins. As such, engaging in extremely heavy workouts will make the results fade faster. That doesn’t mean you stop working out altogether — exercising is crucial, but you should find a happy balance that allows you to build muscle mass while preserving the Botox.

4. Avoid stress and anxiety. 

Stress harms every aspect of your physical and mental functionality. When you’re stressed, you tend to frown and scowl more often, even if you’re not aware of it. Doing so places immense pressure on the muscles you’re trying to relax, countering the effects of the Botox treatment. As such, stress melts the Botox particles faster, making the results fade away a lot sooner than you’d like.

5. Consult a highly-skilled and board-certified cosmetic provider. 

Get your Botox treatment(s) from a highly-skilled and board-certified cosmetic provider with a proven track record. Even though the Botox treatment is fairly simple, it has to be administered by experts who understand facial anatomy and deliver the appropriate dosage in the precise treatment areas. As such, they ensure better results that last longer.

Dr. Nadeau is a board-certified and award-winning plastic and reconstructive surgeon in Seattle known for her skills with surgical and non-surgical treatments. Please schedule a consultation with Dr. Nadeau for long-lasting Botox treatments.