There can be no doubt that Botox® Cosmetic Injections have become the single most popular form of non-surgical facial rejuvenation treatment in the world today. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, Botulinum Toxin Type A injections (including products like Botox®, Dysport®, and Xeomin®) accounted for nearly half of the more than 15 million minimally-invasive cosmetic procedures performed in 2017 alone. Unfortunately, there are many unscrupulous people out there who are trying to take advantage of this demand by offering various “discount” Botox® treatments. As a board certified plastic surgeon with more than twenty years of experience, I cannot emphasize too strongly how dangerous “discount” plastic surgery can be. You shouldn’t have Botox®, or anything else for that matter, injected into your body unless you are under the care of a trained licensed, and experienced medical professional. Moreover, if you manage to find something that purports to be Botox® on-line, there is really absolutely no way to know exactly what you are getting. Listen as I discuss the issue in this video interview I recently conducted with the Plastic Surgery Channel:
There is nothing wrong with trying to save a little money, but when you are purchasing Botox®, or any other cosmetic injectable treatment for that matter, it is important to remember that you are really paying for more than just the product. You are also paying for the services of a skilled and experienced plastic surgeon. Botox® cosmetic injectables work by relaxing key facial muscles underneath the skin. As these muscles relax, they smooth out, reducing the appearance of surface wrinkles. However, there are forty-three different muscles in the face, and they all have to work together continuously to move the facial features and create facial expression. Understanding exactly where and how to inject Botox® so that it achieves subtle and natural-looking results requires a great deal of skill and experience. As my colleague in the video explains, plastic surgeons routinely dissect these anatomical areas during surgery, so we have direct, firsthand experience with the underlying facial architecture. In essence, we know exactly where the muscles are and how a Botox® injection will affect them. Additionally, when you practice for years as a plastic surgeon, you develop a finely tuned aesthetic sense, specifically as it pertains to facial balance and proportion. This means that a trained and board certified plastic surgeon can often make minor adjustments during the procedure to account for the unique contours of an individual patient’s face and to give them the look they are trying to achieve.
When it comes to your health, a little bit of extra caution is always a good idea. Make sure you do your research so that you can achieve the results you want safely and with a minimal amount of downtime. If you would like to learn more about how various plastic surgery procedures might help alleviate some of the signs of facial aging, please contact me, Dr. James Namnoum, to schedule a full facial rejuvenation consultation. Don’t’ forget to connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Google+ for all the latest plastic surgery news and updates.
