Do you feel like extreme facial lines and wrinkles are keeping you from putting your best face forward? At The Dermatology, Laser & Vein Center in Cincinnati, OH, we have the perfect solution. Xeomin is an injectable neurotoxin protein that relaxes the muscles responsible for the deepest of wrinkles. Although it is not as much of a household name as other neurotoxin treatments, it truly is effective.
What Is Xeomin Used for?
Originally, Xeomin was used to erase moderate-to-severe frown lines above the eyebrows. It is also commonly used to treat forehead lines between the eyebrows. As we age, our skin reduces its production rate of crucial chemical compounds that help our skin look young and healthy. For example, your skin’s production rate of collagen decreases significantly.
In younger people, dynamic lines and wrinkles appear temporarily when facial muscles are contracted to emote, speak and perform other physical functions. After years of excessive contractions, these muscles become particularly tense, even when they are at rest. This causes muscle-related lines and wrinkles that never fade. Collagen helps to minimize the appearance of dynamic wrinkles and can erase volume loss-related wrinkles completely.
A Loss of Collagen
In your youth, your skin produced enough collagen to keep itself healthy, young and tight. By your 25th birthday, your skin started to decrease its production rate of the essential protein by 1%. Unfortunately, the protein production rate doesn’t pick up again as you age. Instead, it continues to decrease by 1% annually. If members of your immediate family experienced premature skin aging, your skin may produce up to 2% less collagen year-over-year.
Remember, collagen loss can lead to dynamic wrinkles becoming permanent facial fixtures. A loss of this essential protein prevents your skin from smoothing itself out when your facial muscles are contracted. Over time, these permanent expression lines will deepen and your self-confidence may decrease.
Wrinkle and Fold Smoothing
Forehead folds and glabellar lines, also known as frown lines, are among the first facial folds to appear. Unfortunately, these are often the deepest facial lines due to the strength and size of the forehead muscles.
Restoring the Appearance of Youth
You can benefit significantly from Xeomin injections if your forehead folds aren’t communicating correctly. These folds, particularly when they are moderate or severe in nature, can make you look sad when you feel happy.
They can also make you look angry or distressed when you feel perfectly peaceful and calm. Moreover, these forehead folds can make you look older than your chronological age. This injectable muscle relaxant can restore up to five years of your youth to your countenance by relaxing overactive muscles.
What Is Xeomin?
Xeomin is an FDA-approved injectable muscle relaxant that safely and effectively relaxes dynamic wrinkles away. It comprises a highly pure botulinum toxin A formula and can treat the most severe wrinkles and folds with ease.
The visible signs of aging are inevitable. The formation of dynamic wrinkles and folds is completely natural. That said, these signs of aging can make us look older, more fatigued and more ornery than we feel. Xeomin can reverse the visible signs of facial aging and help you look as young, happy and energetic as you feel.
How Does This Injectable Work?
This injectable muscle relaxant works by spreading throughout the treatment area and attaching itself to some of the motor receptors in the targeted area’s muscles. This inhibits the communication between the brain and muscles. However, it is important to understand a couple of things.
First, although excessive muscle activity ceases, you will still be able to move your treated muscles intentionally. Second, the injectable muscle relaxant only binds to the motor receptors. Since your sensory receptors aren’t blocked, your muscles won’t feel numb. Finally, you should understand that dynamic wrinkles will disappear and you’ll prevent the formation of new dynamic wrinkles temporarily.
What Should I Expect During My Treatment Session?
Your skin will be sanitized with an alcohol-based antiseptic before your injections are administered. You should expect to feel nothing more than a slight pressure as the muscle relaxant is administered. That said, if you dislike the feeling of needles puncturing your skin, we can apply a topical anesthetic to numb the treatment area before your injections are administered. Just advise us on your personal preference during your initial consultation. We are more than happy to accommodate you.
However, you should be aware it takes several minutes for your skin to numb in response to the topical anesthetic. Once your skin has been prepared for treatment, the injectable muscle relaxant will be administered using a sterile syringe and very fine-gauge needle. The medication is injected into the foundational layer of the skin, but the precise injection locations will depend on your aesthetic goals. The average treatment session involves injecting the medication into five strategic locations per targeted area.
Who Is a Good Candidate for This Anti-Aging Treatment?
Men and women alike can benefit from this injectable muscle relaxant. That said, this injectable muscle relaxant is only FDA-approved for most healthy adults. If you’re experiencing dynamic wrinkles and not yet 18, you will need to hold off on getting treatment.
An initial consultation is required to determine definitively whether this treatment is appropriate for you. However, we can give you a general idea of what we look for now.
Someone Ready to Restore His or Her Youthful Countenance
You will most likely be considered a good candidate for this treatment if you are ready to restore the appearance of youth to your upper face. Furthermore, you may be considered a good candidate for this treatment if you want to prevent the formation of dynamic wrinkles temporarily. That said, you may still be considered a good candidate if dynamic wrinkles are affecting other parts of your face, like your nose and mouth.
Someone Without Allergies
We’ll talk about your allergies when you come in for your initial consultation. You may not qualify for this non-invasive treatment if you have a history of anaphylaxis. That said, the allergen that triggered your anaphylaxis will determine whether you qualify for this treatment. What sets this injectable muscle relaxant apart from alternatives is the purity of the A botulinum toxin used.
People who are allergic to Botox or Dysport may not be allergic to Xeomin due to the lack of binding proteins in the injectable solution. You may qualify for this treatment if you have a history of severe allergic reactions but aren’t allergic to any of the ingredients in the formula.
Someone With Healthy Skin
It is important to have healthy skin to qualify for this treatment. You must reschedule your session if your skin is irritated on the day of your appointment. Wearing sunscreen daily in the weeks leading up to your scheduled appointment will go a long way in mitigating the risk of skin irritation.
Furthermore, you should take an antiviral for roughly 30 days before your scheduled appointment if you have a history of oral herpes and are concerned about dynamic wrinkles around your mouth.
Someone Who Has a History of Success With Alternatives
If you’ve had success with alternative injectable muscle relaxants and you have fairly healthy skin at the time of your appointment, this treatment may be right for you. Remember, what makes this treatment different from other injectable muscle relaxants is the purity of the neurotoxic protein.
While extra binding proteins may sound helpful, they’re unnecessary. In fact, your immune system remembers the extra proteins and mounts an effective defense whenever they are detected so the results of alternative treatments don’t last as long.
Someone Who Isn’t an Insomniac
There are a number of preparation steps you must take before this treatment to ensure the best possible results. One thing you need to do to prepare is refrain from taking certain sleep aids. When you come in for your initial consultation, we will advise you on all of the medications you should stop taking and talk about the ones you are currently taking.
Depending on what you take regularly, you may need to stop taking your sleep aid for several days before your session. That said, you should never stop taking your usual drugs and supplements without first speaking with your primary care physician or sleep specialist. If your doctor says it is okay for you to stop taking a sleep aid, ask about taking an alternative temporarily.
Someone Who Doesn’t Have a Blood Condition
To be considered an ideal candidate for this treatment, you should be free from blood disorders. Another crucial preparation step is not taking NSAIDs for several days before your scheduled session. That said, some people need to take NSAIDs daily, like low-dose aspirin, to mitigate the risk of heart disease or blood clots.
If you have a bleeding disorder or high risk of heart disease, your doctor may advise you to continue taking NSAIDs every day. Let us know during your initial consultation if it is not safe for you to stop taking NSAIDs on a daily basis.
When Does This Injectable Start Working?
This injectable starts working as soon as it binds to the motor receptors in the targeted area’s muscles. In other words, it is a great way to shave up to five years from your face very quickly if you have a major event scheduled soon. While you won’t be able to see immediate results after your session, you can expect to enjoy the final results of your treatment after just three to four days.
What’s notable about this is the results of alternative muscle relaxant treatments take 2.5 to 3.5 times longer to become apparent. In other words, if you got Botox injections, you shouldn’t expect to see the results of your treatment until 10 to 14 days after your injections.
How Durable Are the Treatment Results?
Although individual results vary, most people can expect their ideal results to remain for up to six months. Again, this is much different than alternative injectable muscle relaxants. Remember, due to your immune system’s ability to remember and recognize the extra binding proteins associated with such treatments as Botox and Dysport, the results of alternative treatments only last two to four months.
Learn More About This Anti-Aging Injectable Today
Xeomin is usually used to erase dynamic folds from the forehead and eyebrow area. That said, it can be used to treat virtually any dynamic wrinkles. To find out if this treatment can help you, contact us today at The Dermatology, Laser & Vein Center in Cincinnati, OH to schedule your initial consultation.