Overview:

Botox:

Botox injections are used primarily for the ability to reduce the appearance of facial wrinkles. They’re also used to treat conditions such as neck spasms, excessive sweating, an overactive bladder and lazy eye. Botox injections may also help prevent chronic migraines.

Botox injections use a toxin called onobotulinumtoxinA to temporarily prevent a muscle from moving.

Cosmetic uses of botox:

People often request the injections in the following areas of the face:

• wrinkles between the eyebrows, called frown lines, glabellar lines, or elevens
• wrinkles around the eyes, known as crow’s feet
• horizontal creases in the forehead
• lines at the corners of the mouth
• “cobblestone” skin on the chin

Procedure for botox:

• It takes 24-72 hours for the toxin to take effect. Rarely, it can take as long as 5 days for the full effects to show. They may last 3-12 months depending on the treatment.
• People should avoid using Botox during pregnancy or breastfeeding, or if they have ever had an allergic reaction to the drug or any of its ingredients.

Common side effects include:

• dry eye, following cosmetic uses
• an upset stomach
• numbness
• mild pain, swelling or bruising around the injection site
• a headache
• temporary eyelid drooping
• temporary unwanted weakness or paralysis in nearby muscles

Fillers:

Fillers help to diminish facial lines and restore volume and fullness in the face.

As we age, our faces naturally lose subcutaneous fat. The facial muscles are then working closer to the skin surface, so smile lines and crow’s feet become more apparent.

The facial skin also stretches a bit, adding to this loss of facial volume. Other factors that affect the facial skin include sun exposure, heredity and lifestyle.

Uses of fillers:

• Plump thin lips
• Enhance shallow contours
• Soften facial creases and wrinkles
• Improve the appearance of recessed scars
• Reconstruct contour deformities in the face
• Decrease or remove the shadow of the lower lids

What fillers cant do?

For some patients, surgery such as a facelift, browlift,or eyelift may be the best approach. Minimally invasive rejuvenation treatments, such as soft tissue fillers, cannot achieve the same results but may help delay the time when consideration of a facelift becomes appropriate. It is important to remember that fillers are temporary treatments for facial ageing and that ongoing treatments will be needed for long-term results.

Procedure for fillers:

Step 1 – Facial assessment & mapping:

If you choose to utilize packaged soft tissue fillers, the plastic surgeon, or his specially-trained nurse, will evaluate your facial appearance and skin tone and examine the areas of your face to be augmented.

Strategic points on your face may be marked as the appropriate injection sites for the filler. Photographs may be taken of the areas to be treated.

Step 2 – Cleansing & anaesthetizing:

• The injection sites will be cleansed with an antibacterial agent.
• Pain at the injection site may be ameliorated by the use of a very cold instrument to chill the skin, anaesthetic ointment to numb the skin or injection of local anaesthesia.
• While not painless, the injections are usually easily tolerated.

Step 3 – The injection:

• Injection usually takes only a few moments per site. The process of injecting, massaging, and evaluating the result is performed, and additional filler is added as needed.
• Depending on the number of areas to be treated, the whole process may be as short as 15 minutes, or as long as an hour.

Step 4 – Clean up & recovery:

• Once the results are deemed satisfactory, any markings will be cleansed off.
• You may be offered an ice pack to reduce swelling and alleviate discomfort. Although the area may feel a bit tender for a day or two, it is usually not painful enough to require any medication.

Common risk includes:

• Bruising
• Redness
• Swelling
• Pain
• Tenderness
• Itching
• Rash
• Difficulty in performing activities (only observed when injected into the back of the hand)

Thread lifts:

Thread lift is a cosmetic procedure that offers a minimally invasive alternative to facelift surgery. There are three main types of PDO threads used; mono, cog and screw threads:

•  Mono threads are smooth without barbs and are anchored to a point on the face or the scalp. They mainly tighten the skin and provide a small amount of lift.
•  Cog threads have barbs that hook onto the skin to provide support and lift the sagging tissue. 
• Screw threads have one or two intertwined threads around the needle and provide good volume restoration to sunken areas of the skin.

Thread lifts claim to tighten your skin by inserting medical-grade thread material into your face and then pulling your skin up by tightening the thread.

Also called a barbed suture lift, it aims to lift and sculpt the shape of your face or breasts. Thread lifts use temporary, medical-grade suture material to stitch up your skin so that it’s drawn taut.

Procedure for thread lift:

The procedure for thread lift may be slightly different depending on the area you’re targeting as well as your provider’s preferences. The basic technique is usually the same.

• You’ll be asked to recline in the room where your procedure is being performed. Alcohol, as well as a topical anaesthetic, will be applied to your skin as it’s prepped for surgery.
• A thin needle or cannula will be used to insert the threads underneath your skin. Inserting the threads can take 30 to 45 minutes.
• After the threads are inserted, the method of insertion will be removed. You may feel slight pressure or tighten under your skin.
• Within a few minutes of the needles being taken out, your procedure will be complete and you’ll be free to go home or back to work.

Areas where thread lift works:

 Many people choose a thread lift for facial areas that “sag” or look less tight over time. These areas include:

• jowls and jawline
• brow line
• under-eye area
• forehead
• cheeks

Thread lifts are also used to lift and tighten breasts, especially after pregnancy and weight loss.

Side effects of thread lift:

A thread lift is considered a low-risk procedure with minimal recovery time, but there are side effects and a risk of complications.

After a thread lift, it’s not uncommon to experience the following:

• bruising
• swelling
• bleeding
• slight pain at the site of the thread injection

There are a 15-20%chance of complications, including dimpling. Possible complications are minor and can easily be corrected.

Benefits:

• Thread Lift is essentially the use of threads or sutures for the purpose of lifting and contouring skin. It also is effective in stimulating collagen production. 

• It involves placing the sutures, made from permanent and absorbable materials, under the skin which then acts as suspension cables holds the skin in place and fortifies it against the effects of ageing and gravity.

• The benefits of a thread facelift are many. While it does not involve a full surgery the effects of a thread facelift are fairly conspicuous and unmistakable. It retains the natural look and texture of the skin while imparting the desired restoration. 

• Thread lifts are extremely effective for recreating the youthful charm despite the damaging impacts of age. Some of the areas where thread lifts work well are brows, jowls, cheek and the neck area