Don’t Let Smile Lines Compromise Your Beautiful Smile
Ready to do something about those laugh lines you’re noticing at the corners of your mouth? You have several options to treat them so they don’t detract from your beautiful smile.
People have used BOTOX® for years as a way to look younger with smoother, more vibrant skin. More than 7 million people a year take advantage of cosmetic injectables like BOTOX in an attempt to improve their appearance.
Along the way, though, a funny thing happened — doctors realized that BOTOX worked for more than just removing wrinkles from people’s faces. The US Food and Drug Administration has approved it for use in treating conditions such as crossed eyes and excessive sweating, and doctors have found it effective in treating even more conditions, such as depression.
BOTOX can also be used to treat skin conditions. We’ve treated many of these cases over the years at Melanie L. Adams Dermatology. Read on to find out four common skin problems that respond well to treatment with BOTOX.
The original, and still the condition most often treated by BOTOX, which is made from tiny doses of a toxin found in a bacteria called Clostridium botulinum. The drug works by temporarily relaxing and paralyzing muscles. This is an advantage when it comes to removing wrinkles from your face.
As a neuromodulator, BOTOX softens and smoothes wrinkles, such as the fine wrinkles around the eyes, frown lines, and smile lines. BOTOX limits the muscle contractions that cause these wrinkles, giving your skin time to rest, relax, and recharge.
This muscle relaxation lasts for about four months, so patients need to periodically come in for another BOTOX injection to keep experiencing the benefits.
As we age, our skin becomes less elastic. High exposure to the sun and UV radiation does the skin no favors in that department either. For some patients, though, BOTOX has shown an ability to reverse the damage that UV rays can cause to skin elasticity and pliability.
This may happen because BOTOX works not only on the muscle where it’s injected, but it may stimulate skin cells called fibroblasts that produce more collagen and elastin. Your skin, as a result, is smoother and more elastic, with fewer wrinkles.
BOTOX injections have also been used in the dermatology field to help control acne outbreaks on patients’ skin. We mentioned earlier that BOTOX can help control excessive sweating, which in turn can have a positive impact on your pores and help reduce the amount of oil the skin produces. This means your skin is far less prone to acne breakouts.
The BOTOX injections block the acetylcholine in the skin, which is linked to the skin’s oil production. Increased oil makes the skin more likely to breed the bacteria that cause acne outbreaks. With the injections, patients enjoy skin that’s not as oily and much healthier.
We’re combining a couple of skin conditions here. BOTOX can also be used by doctors to treat psoriasis and dyshidrotic eczema. Psoriasis is a skin disorder that manifests as bumpy red patches covered with white scales. It happens because skin cells multiply up to 10 times faster than normal. With dyshidrotic eczema, patients develop small, intensely itchy blisters that appear on the sides of their hands and feet.
In both cases, BOTOX could be just what the doctor ordered, as it’s been shown to be effective in treating these skin conditions.
If you would like to set up an initial consultation with Dr. Adams to talk about how BOTOX can work for you, contact our Columbia, Maryland, office by phone or with our convenient online scheduler.
