Due to the hot, dry, sunny conditions, a lot of people develop wrinkles here in Inland Empire. You have a lot of treatment options to help you smooth your skin: Injectables like BOTOX®, fillers including Juvéderm®, Restylane®, and Bellafill, minimally invasive microneedling and stronger treatments like laser and Renuvion/J-Plasma skin resurfacing. Depending on the extent of your facial aging, all can be effective. The question is: which one is right for you?
Wrinkles appear for different reasons. The cause and extent of your wrinkles make a big difference in choosing the right treatment. An experienced, board-certified facial plastic is in a good position to assess your facial aging and tell you about treatments that can help the most. This article will highlight the options I’ve found that work the best here in Inland Empire.
BOTOX® is popular – but will it smooth your wrinkles?
Millions of people use BOTOX® every year. It effectively treats one type of wrinkles: those caused by your facial muscles. When you show your feelings (by smiling or frowning, for instance) your brain sends a signal to your facial muscles to form an expression. Making those expressions year after year can cause wrinkles to form. BOTOX® blocks the chemical signal from reaching muscles where it’s injected. They don’t contract, and you don’t wrinkle.
BOTOX® is most successful in stopping wrinkles in your brow line as well as crow’s feet and frown lines. It can even treat some forms of depression and migraine headaches. Forehead muscle contractions can promote headaches. Deterring them can provide some relief. And, as revealed in the LookYounger.News article, “How to Weather the Storm with a Smile”, research reveals that your facial expression can change your feelings. BOTOX® can prevent the act of frowning, which can actually lift your mood.
Younger patients have healthier facial muscles and skin. BOTOX® can substantially improve or eliminate many or all of their wrinkles. It can also help prevent expression-based wrinkles from worsening. BOTOX® often works even better on older patients.
You’ll start seeing results within 2-3 day with forehead lines and deep wrinkles. In 5 days to 2 weeks, all your wrinkles injected with BOTOX® should look substantially better.
You’ll need to plan on getting shots every 4-6 months to maintain your smoother skin. And because we purchase this injectable in smaller bottles, at STC Plastic Surgery you can count on getting the freshest, most potent BOTOX® available. These bottles contain the amount most patients require. If you need less, you can save money by sharing your bottle with a friend. That way, you’ll both look great for less.
Fillers work well on wrinkles not treated by BOTOX®.
Some wrinkles are not caused by facial expressions. Dermal fillers are often an excellent treatment option for these. For instance, sun damage can make your skin lose its tightness and elasticity. And every year you lose more volume in the fat pads below the surface of your face. These factors can cause both hollows and wrinkles to form.
Injecting fillers can smooth those wrinkles and fill the hollows in your face. Fillers like Juvéderm® and Restylane® use body compounds like hyaluronic acid which your body easily tolerates. But your body also absorbs them in about a year. You’ll need to schedule more injections to maintain your younger, more attractive look.
Bellafill may be a better option. It uses bovine collagen for instant results. That collagen contains tiny spheres of bone cement. As your body absorbs the bovine collagen, your own collagen forms around the spheres. In this way, Bellafill can provide great results that last 5 years or more.
Fillers can:
- Plump thin lips
- Fill in hollows, lines, and wrinkles in your face
- Substantially improve acne scars
- Correct asymmetrical features
- Improve bags under your eyes (in some cases)
Since your body will absorb fillers, it can become cost-prohibitive to use them for many lines and wrinkles. If this is your situation, a full-face wrinkle treatment may be more cost-effective.
Microneedling – effective and convenient full-face wrinkle treatment.
Microneedling can treat your whole face cost-effectively with no downtime. You can go right back to work after a treatment. It has become popular for these reasons and one more: it works! Your physician will apply a topical anesthetic and then use a sterile device to puncture your skin with tiny needles. This tiny injury stimulates your body’s healing response. You’ll produce more collagen and elastin, important substances you’ve been losing as you age. Elastin will make your skin healthier and more elastic. Collagen will fill facial depressions that have caused your wrinkles. After several sessions, you’ll see fewer wrinkles and smoother, healthier skin.
Microneedling is an effective way to treat acne scars. It also works well for those with darker complexions, since it doesn’t affect pigment the way facial resurfacing can. In addition, when the tiny needles puncture your skin, it’s a golden opportunity to get medication down where it can do some real good. Applying a commercially produced serum based on stem cells can help improve your skin even more.
Microneedling is a good treatment for those whose fine lines and wrinkles are widespread. If you’re not a good candidate for BOTOX® or fillers and don’t yet need facial resurfacing – or you have a darker complexion – consider seeing an experienced facial plastic surgeon who offers microneedling.
Laser skin resurfacing – the classic treatment for widespread wrinkles, acne scars, and deeper lines.
Fractional CO2 laser has been used effectively for years. It substantially improves acne scars, wrinkles, lines and age spots. It works by vaporizing old wrinkled skin, one layer at a time, leaving you with the healthy, smoother lower layers. The small thermal injury caused by fractional CO2 laser resurfacing triggers elastin and collagen production. So, as your skin heals it will become even smoother and healthier.
Healing will take about a week. During that downtime, you’ll likely need some over-the-counter pain relievers. You’ll be glad you put up with the discomfort. Afterward, your wrinkles and scarring will improve substantially – for years. Laser treatment is designed for:
- More widespread fine lines, wrinkles and sun-damaged skin
- Acne scars
- Other facial scarring
- Age spots
- Vertical lines or wrinkling around your mouth
Those in good health who have a positive attitude and are realistic in their expectations will find laser resurfacing to be an excellent option. Laser is not usually recommended for those with darker skin. Those with lighter complexions often get better results with this modality.
Best full-face treatment: Renuvion/J-Plasma Facial Resurfacing
Renuvion/J-Plasma facial resurfacing uses a device with electrically-charged cool helium gas to rejuvenate your face. Like lasers, it removes wrinkled, sun-damaged skin to reveal the smoother, healthier skin below. Here’s where this exciting new treatment differs from lasers:
- It tightens skin better than any other treatment
- It generates less heat, so it causes substantially less discomfort
- It gets better results that last longer
Like microneedling and laser treatments, Renuvion/J-Plasma skin resurfacing stimulates elastin and collagen production. Afterward, some patients look like they’ve had a facelift!
So, if your wrinkles are widespread, you have upper lip lines or other deep lines, have acne scars and can put up with 2 weeks of downtime while the redness in your face fades to pink, Renuvion/J-Plasma resurfacing could be your best choice. It might even help tighten bags under your eyes.
Which treatment is your best option?
Board certified facial plastic surgeons have substantial training and often years of experience in helping people like you get rid of facial wrinkles, lines, and acne scars. Why not come in for a free private consultation? If you have wrinkles and you’re in or near Inland Empire, CA, feel free to contact me at STC Plastic Surgery in Ontario.