Do I Have to Make a Choice Between Botox and Fillers?
By Greta McLaren | Published on November 28, 2011 | 0 Comments
When it comes to the cosmetic treatments and procedures that are available at medical spas, Dr. Greta McLaren of Skin Secrets Medical says patients rarely have to worry about whether they will get one procedure instead of another. Rather, the physicians and aesthetic specialists at medical spas are skilled in combining procedures to achieve the best possible results for their patients.
At Dr. McLaren’s medical spa in Greenwood Village, liposuction, Botox, and fillers are all popular treatment options. One question that Dr. McLaren gets asked frequently is whether patients can combine procedures on single areas of the body, like a patient in Greenwood Village who wants liposuction and body countering on her thighs, or a patient who wants Botox and fillers in her face.
When it comes to Botox and fillers, in particular, Dr. McLaren says these two products are used for entirely different purposes. That means they can be used together to create an excellent result. Whether a patient in Greenwood Village wants liposuction will have no effect on whether that person should also get Botox, says Dr. McLaren.
Botox and Xeomin, which is an alternative to Botox, keep women from digging wrinkles into their skin. The face is full of muscles that people have been moving since they were children, explains Dr. McLaren. After years and years of moving these muscles, certain wrinkles can begin to etch into the skin around the areas where those muscles tense up frequently. These etched-in wrinkles will eventually carve into the skin and become difficult to remove.
Botox keeps those wrinkles from being able to dig in and etch the skin. A woman who starts getting Botox at a young enough age can prevent wrinkles from occurring in the first place. Thus, a woman in her 60s who has let those wrinkles go unattended to for too long will not see the same benefit from Botox as a woman who starts getting regular Botox injections beginning in her early 30s.
The other concept that medical spa professionals like Dr. McLaren must contend with involves the areas along the face where Botox is not widely used. The most common of these areas is the smile lines and the marionette lines below the mouth. Those are two areas where women do not typically use Botox, says Dr. McLaren. Instead, those are areas where volume loss is the bigger problem. Volume loss occurs due to the natural aging process, and the only way to reverse it is to put more volume back into the face with the use of fillers, explains the Botox, Xeomin, and liposuction expert in Greenwood Village.
This is true for the cheekbones, as well as other areas of the face. Women lose a lot of muscle, bone, and fat in their cheeks as they age, and fillers are a great way to take some of those sharp contours away. If a woman wants to make her face soft again, then she has to put fillers in. Botox can help erase wrinkles, but it cannot make a face look softer or less severe than it already is.
Greenwood Village, CO 80111
Phone: 303-770-SKIN
*Disclaimer: The information on this website is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.