Combining Botox® and Fillers for the Ultimate Liquid Facelift

You can’t remember exactly when you first noticed, but now, when you look in the mirror, you see a face with fine lines, wrinkles, and even maybe some sags that belie your actual age and how young you feel inside.

We all develop lines and wrinkles as we age, but that doesn’t necessarily mean we have to like or put up with them. There are minimally invasive treatments that can help you turn back the clock, even if only temporarily.

Primary Care Walk-In Medical Clinic has four Arizona locations: Gilbert, Fountain Hills, Mesa, and Scottsdale. Our providers, Dr. Pankaj Chopra and Dr. Neha Maheshwari, understand how upsetting seeing an “older” face can be. That’s why we offer Botox® and fillers to our patients who want a more youthful look. It’s the ultimate liquid facelift, and here’s why.

The types of wrinkles

Wrinkles come in two major types: dynamic and static.

Dynamic wrinkles are associated with making expressions over time, such as smiling, frowning, raising your eyebrows, or squinting.

When you’re young, and your muscles tug at the skin above them, the skin snaps back to its original position when the expression is over. As you age, the skin loses elasticity, and you get forehead lines, crow’s feet, and laugh lines.

Static wrinkles, on the other hand, are due to a loss of collagen and elastin, two structural proteins that give your skin strength and resilience. After age 25, your body produces less of these; the sun’s UV light can also break them down.

Without the proteins to shore up the skin, you develop deeper lines, folds, hollows, and sags that age your face and neck.

What is Botox?

Botox Cosmetic is a neurotoxin derived from the same bacterium that causes botulism (food poisoning). Once purified and diluted, it can safely treat bothersome fine lines and wrinkles.

Botox is the first and only FDA-approved treatment to temporarily improve the appearance of moderate-to-severe frown lines, crow’s feet, forehead lines, and, most recently, moderate-to-severe vertical bands connecting the neck and jaw.

The neurotoxin works beneath the surface of your skin, temporarily paralyzing the nerves that signal the muscles to contract. When your muscles relax, the lines soften, reducing their appearance and making you look more youthful.

Various factors, including the contraction of the platysma muscle (a thin superficial muscle), can cause the appearance of bands connecting the jaw and neck. By injecting Botox into the muscle, it relaxes, softening the bands’ appearance on the neck and lower jaw.

Results last about 3-4 months, after which you can get another treatment.

What are fillers?

Dermal fillers are also injectable but work on static wrinkles, where collagen and elastin are lost. Fillers can help:

• Smooth out lines around the nose and mouth (aka marionette lines, smile lines, and parentheses)
• Enhance and restore volume to hollowed cheeks or temples
• Reduce vertical lip lines
• Plump and enhance the lips
• Smooth out a chin crease

By addressing all these, fillers improve symmetry among all your facial features.

Fillers can be made from different compounds, all of which add volume:

Hyaluronic acid (HA)

HA is a naturally occurring substance plentifully found in your skin. By attracting moisture, it keeps the skin plump and hydrated. HA fillers are, therefore, generally soft and gel-like.

The results last 6-12 months, during which the body gradually and naturally absorbs the particles. Most HA fillers are mixed with lidocaine to minimize discomfort during and after treatment.

FDA-approved HA fillers include:

• Juvéderm® line of products
• Restylane® line of products
• Belotero Balance®
• Revanesse® Versa
• The RHA collection

Each product in a line is formulated for a different part of the face or neck.

Calcium hydroxylapatite (CaHA)

CaHA also naturally occurs and is found mainly in the bones. For the filler, the calcium particles are almost microscopic and are suspended in a smooth gel, with a consistency usually thicker than for HA.

CaHA fillers also last longer, somewhere around 12 months for most patients. Since the filler helps stimulate natural collagen production, it’s generally used for deeper lines and wrinkles. FDA-approved CaHA fillers include Radiesse® products.

Poly-L-lactic acid

Poly-L-lactic acid is a synthetic substance that’s biocompatible and biodegradable. It’s been used in medicine for many years, such as in dissolvable stitches.

Poly-L-lactic acid fillers are called “collagen stimulators,” since their primary mechanism is to smooth deep lines by helping your skin rebuild natural collagen — the filler gel dissipates shortly after treatment.

Results can last more than two years. FDA-approved Poly-L-lactic acid fillers include Sculptra® Aesthetic.

To learn more about how Botox and fillers complement each other, come into Primary Care Walk-In Clinic for a consultation. You can walk in, call us at any of our locations, or book an appointment online.