3 Ways Toxins Could Be the Answer to Your Skin Troubles

Every year, millions of Americans turn to Botox®, Dysport®, and Xeomin® to smooth out dynamic wrinkles around their eyes, forehead, and mouth.

Although they’re different brands, these agents all have one thing in common: They’re all neurotoxins, and although they’re best known for treating wrinkles, they have other important cosmetic uses too.

At Rostami OPC, Soheila Rostami, MD, and Joseph Davidson, MD, offer cosmetic neurotoxin treatments to help patients achieve their unique aesthetic goals. Here’s how neurotoxins can help you look and feel your absolute best.

How neurotoxins work

Also called neuromuscular agents, neurotoxins work on the signaling pathways that connect specific muscles to your brain. Nerve signals travel along these pathways every time a muscle contracts.

Neurotoxins block the signals, so muscles aren’t “told” to contract. Dr. Rostami delivers very precise doses of neurotoxins using a super-slim needle, ensuring accurate delivery to just the areas that need to be treated.

Most neurotoxins remain effective for several months. Regular “touch-up” treatments enable you to maintain the effects of your treatment for virtually as long as you like.

In addition to treating facial wrinkles and lines, Dr. Rostami uses them for other cosmetic issues too, like these three.

1. Correct ‘gummy’ smiles

A beautiful smile relies a lot on symmetry, including the symmetry between your teeth and the amount of gum tissue that shows when you smile. For most people, very little, if any, gum tissue is visible when they flash their pearly whites.

If you have a gummy smile, however, a lot of gum tissue shows — and that can detract from your smile aesthetics.

By injecting neurotoxins in specific areas above your lip, Dr. Rostami “relaxes” the muscles that draw your upper lip up. She uses just enough solution to reduce the exposure without interfering with the way your lips “work.”

2. Relax visible neck bands

Also called platysmal bands, neck bands are vertical “cords” that can quickly age your neck (and your face too). When we're young, these bands are surrounded by plump tissue. But as we age, we lose natural tissue volume, and neck bands become a lot more visible.

Dr. Rostami injects neurotoxin solutions around the banding to relax the muscles that pull the cords taut. After injections, your neck can appear smoother and more youthful.

3: Gently lift ‘falling’ brows

Most people know that neurotoxins can be a good choice for getting rid of horizontal forehead lines (also called glabellar folds). But injections in the forehead area can also be used to gently lift your brow line, reversing the “downward drift” that happens as we get older and our skin loses elasticity.

Brow movements use two groups of muscles — one group to raise the brows and one to lower them. To lift your brows, Dr. Rostami targets the muscles that move the brows down, shifting activity to the forehead muscles that elevate your brows, so brows appear lifted and your eyes look more alert and rested.