Botulinum toxin type A smooths dynamic lines and wrinkles by blocking the neurotransmitters that communicate to the facial muscles, enabling them to contract and create facial expressions such as frowning, squinting, and smiling. However, there is no need for alarm. When the product is injected expertly by a medical professional, you can still create these expressions and maintain a natural appearance. The expression lines, however, will be temporarily smoothed, and your skin will look more youthful.

The most commonly treated areas include:

• Forehead lines (the lines that run horizontally across your forehead when you raise your eyebrows).
• Glabellar lines (or ‘elevens’ – two or sometimes more vertical lines forming between the eyebrows ).
• Bunny lines (lines down the sides of the nose).
• Crow’s feet (the fine lines at the sides of your eyes that you see when you squint or smile).
• Eyebrow lift (a technique using botulinum toxin type A to raise the eyebrows and create a more wide-awake look for the eyes).

• Smoothing a ‘cobbled’ or bumpy chin.
• Platysmal bands (horizontal bands on the neck).
• Jawline contouring.
• Correcting downturned corners of the mouth.
• Teeth grinding and jaw clenching (resulting in a slimmer lower-face contour).
• Lip-flip (creating volume in the upper lip).

Botulinum toxin type A is considered very safe; legally, patients over 18 can have this treatment. However, it is recommended that prior to undergoing a treatment using this product, you consult with your medical practitioner to ensure there are no contraindications that may prevent or restrict your wrinkle-smoothing treatment from going ahead.

Your skin will be cleansed and sterilised before the treatment commences. After which, your medical practitioner will ask you to create different facial expressions so that they can see where the dynamic lines appear. They will usually mark the areas to be injected with a white skin pencil for precision. Small injections of the toxin will then be placed in these areas. The treatment is quick and usually pain-free, but you may feel slight pricking with each injection. More often than not, there is no need for a local or topical anaesthetic as the needles used are extremely fine, and the injections are very superficial. Once your treatment is complete, you can return to your daily activities as long as you adhere to any aftercare advice your practitioner offers.

Following your wrinkle-smoothing treatment, you may experience some very slight bruising at the injection sites. However, this is very rare. There is no clinical downtime, and you can return to work or complete your daily routine immediately afterwards, as long as you follow your practitioner’s aftercare advice.

Most patients can start to see results within 24 to 48 hours, especially if they are new to this treatment. However, the optimum results are usually seen after two weeks. At this stage, you may wish to have a follow-up appointment with your practitioner to discuss the results and have any further injections if required.

The longevity of your results will depend on several factors:

• Your individual response to the treatment.
• Your age and the overall health and quality of your skin.
• Your lifestyle (smoking, excessive vigorous exercise and regular sun exposure can affect the longevity of your results).

If you maintain a healthy lifestyle and a good skincare regime, avoid smoking, excessive sun exposure, regular vigorous exercise, and alcohol consumption, your results can last for up to six months.