Preventive Botox means starting with small doses of Botox before deep wrinkles appear. It’s commonly used for mild forehead lines, crow’s feet, and frown lines between the brows. These are the areas where fine lines first appear. 

Faint forehead lines or fine creases around your eyes are early signs that often show up in your 20s and 30s.The goal is to reduce muscle activity before these lines become more prominent and permanent.

The idea is to use Botox (botulinum toxin) injections to stop wrinkles from occurring. But to understand how that might work, you need to first understand some things about wrinkles in general and about the science behind Botox injections. Facial wrinkles happen as a result of muscle contractions and gravity. Your facial muscles contract any time you smile, frown, squint or make other facial expressions. As you get older, the combination of repeated muscle contractions and good old gravity leads to —wrinkles. But Botox relaxes the muscles that cause wrinkles. “In very, very low dosage, Botox blocks the neuro-communication between the muscle and nerve. This causes weakening or paralysis of that muscle.” Think about it: If your nerve can’t communicate to tell your muscle what to do, then your muscle won’t do, “With repeated injections, we find that patients don’t frown as much.”  It’s thought to help you break that habit through behavior modification.” So, some people get “Preventive Botox,” to try to keep their facial muscles from making all of those contractions that would eventually lead to wrinkles.“ The concept is twofold- “First, to break the habit of frowning and second, to train, weaken or atrophy those muscles so that they’re not as active and thus, might not lead to wrinkles.”

Are there any downsides of preventative Botox?

Here’s the thing about preventative botulinum toxin injections: “The idea of it is more theoretic than operational” 

”Getting injections, whether or not you currently have wrinkles, will indeed relax your facial muscles … but only during the time it’s active.“ Botox is temporary,” so, once the treatments have stopped, then the effect goes away. The effects of Botox and other neurotoxin injections last only about three to four months, and then, your skin will go back to its usual form. If you continue to get injections, your muscles may train themselves to contract less. But there’s no guarantee that they’ll prevent you from getting wrinkles. 

Is It Safe and Worth It?

When done by a trained provider, Botox is safe. Side effects, such as temporary redness or swelling, are rare and typically mild. Treatment sessions are quick, with no downtime required.

Try to remember that wrinkles are a normal part of aging, and aging is a normal part of life.

Starting your 30s, your skin loses about 1% of its collagen each year, and your skin cells also slowly divide, which leads to thinner skin and visible wrinkles. Preventive Botox may help keep your skin looking smoother for longer. 

Do what you can to feel your best — but don’t let those laugh lines get you down!

Consult your Dermatologist today!