Anti-wrinkle Injections

Anti wrinkle injections are just one option in a menu of choices or tools to help you improve your appearance.

They can be used to soften dynamic lines and wrinkles but mostly to rebalance the face relaxing overactive muscles that may be making you look tired or grumpy even when your face is relaxed. They can also be used to make your skin look better, reducing open pores and sebum production and to reduce the redness in rosacea. They are very successful in the management of excess sweating. We also use the drug to manage migraines and some other nerve entrapment associated pain issues.

To achieve a balanced natural look we’ll recommend anti wrinkle treatments as part of an overall treatment plan using them judicially where needed in a targeted fashion. In your consultation we can discuss what you are trying to achieve, what options you have, and make a plan with priorities to suit your budget. You can often have your first anti-wrinkle injections on the day if you wish.

We keep detailed photographic records noting the dosage and placement of each injection. Each injection point is marked with a white crayon on your face before photographing. We take lots of photographs with your muscles working and relaxed so we can look back and compare when trying to get the doses right for you. Every patient gets an individualised treatment plan (unlike other clinics where a standardised treatment template is applied to each patient).

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Treatments take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, depending on how many units of anti-wrinkle treatment are required.

Prices start from $245. Consultations are complimentary where we will establish what treatment best suits your needs and you proceed on the same day.

The results in the frown last 3 to 4 months. In some muscles such as masseter, it can last up to 9 months and up to a year in the armpits for sweating.

before & after

Anti-wrinkle Treatments

What areas of the face can be treated with anti-wrinkle injections?

All areas of the face can be treated, it just depends on assessment which ones will be best for you.

Frown Lines

The commonest area we treat is the frown lines because they make a person look grumpy and angry.  The treatment can be varied from just a softening to a newsreader’s frown where there is still some movement, to a frozen no movement frown!  It involves 3 or 5, or occasionally a few more, injection points depending on how your muscles work together and the look you are trying to achieve.

Forehead Lines

Forehead lines are easy to treat and also easy to get wrong!! The muscle is a broad very thin sheet and is the only muscle that lifts the eyebrows up. Usually, the muscle gets overactive because it is working overtime to keep a patient’s eyebrows up as they age. Weakening it with anti-wrinkle treatments means the brows can drop if not treading cautiously! We will often recommend at the same time weakening the muscles that pull the brow down so the forehead muscle doesn’t have to work so hard. In young patients, it is probably not smart to keep treating this muscle in isolation as in the long term the muscle may thin out and not be as effective when they need it as they age!

Lip Lines

Lip lines can be softened with tiny doses to weaken the muscle that runs around the mouth. However, overdoing it with too much weakening and you will start to dribble!!! They are often very effective in combination with a lip filler in those patients whose lip disappears when they smile. Sometimes the muscles that lift the lip in smiling are very strong so that patients have a ‘gummy smile.’ Again anti-wrinkle injections are very effective here. We start with minimal doses and gradually top them up till we find the dose that is right for you.

Crows’ Feet

Crows’ feet are another popular area to treat. However if not done properly the cheek skin can bunch up under the eye giving a shelf effect. These injections can really help open the eyes. We commonly use 3 to 4 injection points but also can use a lot more when spreading lower doses.

Bunny Lines

Bunny lines are often treated when patients scrunch their noses. Only 2 injection points are used.

Other Areas

We also commonly use antiwrinkle injections to reduce the pull down on the corners of the mouth and soften the thickening of chin muscles that become hyper-active with ageing, giving a nice subtle improvement to the appearance of the lower face. The neck is another favourite, dropping the neck back to give some definition under the jawline.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What causes wrinkles?

Wrinkles occur as a result of skin ageing. When a child frowns the frown lines are there, but when he /she relaxes the lines disappear. This is because the skin is thick and elastic and bounces straight back into a smooth skin. The skin can be likened to a pair of bathers that thin out and lose their elasticity with time.

They start to get a bit saggy and baggy! Anti-wrinkle injections stop the muscle moving so that the skin over the top does not move and wrinkle up. They do not treat the underlying problem of the skin itself.

How do anti-wrinkle injections work?

Anti-wrinkle injections work by reducing the underlying muscle movement. The drug used is a micro dose of a naturally occurring protein that is refined and purified in a laboratory. It is a very precise dose and actually only works on a tiny part of a muscle as it does not spread far from the point of injection.

The drug temporarily affects a specific protein in the nerve ending that is part of the messaging system so that the message of ‘move’ does not get from the end of the nerve branch to the muscle part. The nerve and muscle recover as your body makes new messaging protein, which can take around 3 to 4 months. The drug can also work on the ‘messengers’ involved in pain transmission, the dilatation of blood vessels in rosacea, sweat and sebum production.

Are there any side effects?

Because the drug is very accurate and targeted the side effects are rare.  In massive doses (used in therapeutics) there have been a few cases documented where it has affected the breathing.  However, in the doses we use, this is highly unlikely. What we do see occasionally is a patient becoming immune to the drug over time.

Patients may report that their treatments are not lasting quite as long as they used to and/or they need higher doses to get the same result.  Newer, more pure formulations of the drug significantly reduce this risk.

Other side effects that are more common are related primarily to improper placement of the injections.  If the drug is placed too close to another muscle it may affect that muscle, for example, the one that lifts the eyelid, then an eyelid droop may occur.  Eye drops can help with this until the drug wears off at about 3 months.  If someone treats forehead lines without analysing the consequences of weakening the forehead muscle for that patient, then the brow can become heavy and even drop.

When the frown is incorrectly injected the outer eyebrows can become arched in a pointed way.  These latter problems are easily corrected with complimentary top-up injections.  Other common side effects are bruising (especially in the highly vascular crow’s feet area) and a temporary ‘gnat bite’ swelling at the site of injection for about 20 minutes.

How much do anti-wrinkle injections cost?

It comes down to how much of the drug your muscles require to achieve the desired effect and of course how many areas are treated, whether it to treat pain or excess sweating or it is just for cosmetic purposes. As a rough guide for a frown, the commonest charge would be $245. However, some clients need less and some more.

How long do anti-wrinkle treatments last?

The drug lasts around 3 to 4 months in the frown. In the forehead and crow’s feet, where we keep dosing low to prevent side effects it can start to wear off earlier. In some muscles such as masseter, it can last up to 9 months!

Treatments for excess seating in the armpit can last up to 12 months.

What else can anti-wrinkle injections be used for?

In this clinic, we also use anti-wrinkle injections to treat excessive sweating. Local anaesthetic cream is applied and then multiple tiny droplet injection points to each armpit to spread the drug over each affected area. The injections themselves are quick, the numbing takes about 30mins.

It can also be used to treat jaw clenching and teeth grinding. The chewing muscles can become overactive, especially the masseter muscle over the corners of the jaw leading to jaw clenching. We like to get the OK from your dentist before treating to check your bite and teeth before we start, and they may recommend a night splint which works well in combination with the muscle relaxing treatment.

Recently microdroplet injections into the skin have become popular to improve the appearance of the skin itself targeting enlarged pores, ‘greasy skin’ and the redness associated with rosacea, as well as giving a very soft smoothing effect to the skin.

Who can perform anti-wrinkle injections?

In this clinic, all injections are performed by a doctor. With a solid foundation in anatomy we understand what is going on under your skin and how the muscles work together.

That advanced understanding enables us to individualise your treatment to your face and your desired outcomes, but also able to offer you alternative and complimentary options. Every patient in this clinic gets a different treatment plan, hence the detailed record keeping.

Dr Corduff has authored many medical journal articles on the topic and is also an international trainer, lecturer, and researcher for one of the leading pharmaceutical companies, so we are able to bring you those skills and experience as part of your treatment.

Book an appointment with Dr. Niamh Corduff today!

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