BOTOX® Cosmetic in Danville, CA
Botox in Danville, CA
BOTOX® Cosmetic (onabotulinumtoxinA) is a prescription botulinum toxin injection that temporarily reduces selected muscle activity. Current U.S. cosmetic labeling includes moderate to severe frown lines, forehead lines, crow’s-feet lines and platysma bands in adults. Treatment should be individualized to facial anatomy and should preserve the degree of expression the patient wants.
BOTOX Cosmetic is a prescription injection. It quietens certain muscles for a while, so the lines those muscles make get softer. In the United States it is approved for adults for four areas: the frown lines between the eyebrows, the lines across the forehead, the lines at the outer corners of the eyes, and the vertical cords on the front of the neck, when those lines are moderate to severe. Where it is injected should be worked out for your face, and should leave you with as much expression as you want to keep.
BOTOX Cosmetic: the essentials
The short version
onabotulinumtoxinA
Prescription botulinum toxin type A neuromodulator.
A prescription medicine that quietens a muscle for a while. It is injected.
Moderate to severe glabellar frown lines, forehead lines, lateral canthal (crow’s-feet) lines and platysma bands in adults.
In adults: frown lines between the eyebrows, lines across the forehead, lines at the outer corners of the eyes, and the vertical cords on the front of the neck, when those are moderate to severe.
Usually minimal; injection-site redness, swelling, tenderness or bruising can occur.
Usually none. You may get some redness, swelling, tenderness or a small bruise where the needle went in.
Temporary reduction in targeted muscle activity and softening of associated dynamic lines.
The treated muscles move less for a while, so the lines they make look softer.
What is BOTOX Cosmetic?
What is Botox?
BOTOX Cosmetic is onabotulinumtoxinA, a prescription neuromodulator injected into selected muscles to temporarily reduce contraction.
BOTOX Cosmetic is a prescription medicine injected into chosen muscles to make them squeeze less hard for a while.
It is not a dermal filler. Its cosmetic effect comes from changing muscle activity rather than adding volume under the skin.
It is not a filler. It works by changing how a muscle moves, not by adding volume under the skin.
What areas is BOTOX Cosmetic FDA-approved to treat?
Which areas is Botox approved for?
Current U.S. labeling includes temporary improvement of moderate to severe glabellar frown lines, forehead lines, lateral canthal lines and platysma bands in adults.
In the United States it is approved to temporarily improve the frown lines between the eyebrows, the lines across the forehead, the lines at the outer corners of the eyes, and the vertical cords on the front of the neck, in adults, when those lines are moderate to severe.
- Glabellar lines: vertical frown lines between the eyebrows.
- Forehead lines: horizontal lines related to frontalis muscle activity.
- Lateral canthal lines: crow’s-feet beside the eyes.
- Platysma bands: vertical neck bands connecting the jaw and neck.
- The vertical frown lines between your eyebrows, sometimes called the elevens.
- The horizontal lines across your forehead, made by the muscle that lifts your eyebrows.
- The lines at the outer corners of your eyes, often called crow's feet.
- The vertical cords that stand out on the front of the neck.
Diagram showing FDA-approved BOTOX Cosmetic facial and neck treatment areas
Diagram showing the areas on the face and neck that Botox is approved to treat in the United States.
Who may be a good candidate for BOTOX Cosmetic?
Who is a good candidate?
Adults with dynamic lines caused by muscle movement may be candidates after review of anatomy, medical history and treatment goals.
Adults whose lines appear when they move their face may be suitable, after a look at your anatomy, your medical history and what you want to change.
- Tell the injector about prior botulinum toxin treatment, especially within the last four months.
- Tell the injector about swallowing, breathing or neuromuscular problems and all medications.
- Do not inject through active infection at a planned injection site.
- Tell whoever is injecting you if you have had this kind of treatment before, especially in the last four months.
- Tell them about any problems with swallowing, breathing or your muscles and nerves, and about every medicine you take.
- Nothing should be injected through skin that is currently infected.
Facial muscle movement assessment before BOTOX Cosmetic injections
Checking how the muscles of the face move, before any Botox is injected.
What happens during BOTOX treatment?
What happens during the treatment?
The clinician evaluates facial movement, marks selected muscles and places small intramuscular injections using product-specific dosing.
The clinician watches your face move, marks the muscles to be treated, and puts small injections into those muscles. The dose depends on which product is being used.
The injection pattern should be individualized. For forehead treatment, balance between the frontalis and brow-depressor muscles matters because excessive weakening can contribute to brow droop.
The pattern of injections should be worked out for you. On the forehead, the balance matters between the muscle that lifts your eyebrows and the muscles that pull them down, because weakening the lifting muscle too much can leave your brows sitting lower than before.
When do BOTOX results appear and how long do they last?
When will I see it, and how long does it last?
Improvement develops over several days and is temporary. How long it lasts varies with the treatment area, dose, muscle strength and individual response.
It comes on over several days, and it wears off. How long it lasts depends on the area treated, the dose, how strong your muscles are, and how you personally respond.
Follow-up timing should be based on the treated indication and practice protocol rather than a universal schedule.
When you come back should depend on what was treated and on the plan we agreed, rather than on a fixed calendar.
What are the risks and side effects of BOTOX Cosmetic?
What are the risks and side effects?
Common effects can include injection-site pain, swelling or bruising, headache, dry mouth or temporary eyelid/brow changes.
Common ones are soreness, swelling or bruising where the needle went in, a headache, a dry mouth, or a temporary change in the eyelid or eyebrow.
- Temporary eyelid or brow ptosis.
- Asymmetry or undesired change in expression.
- Eye symptoms such as dryness, blurred or double vision can occur.
- A drooping eyelid or eyebrow, which wears off.
- One side looking different from the other, or an expression you did not want.
- Eye problems such as dryness, blurred vision or double vision.
What are alternatives to BOTOX Cosmetic?
What else could I have instead?
Other neurotoxins include Dysport and Jeuveau. If a line is caused by volume loss, photodamage or etched skin texture rather than muscle movement alone, filler, resurfacing or skin-tightening treatments may be more appropriate.
There are other medicines of the same kind, including Dysport and Jeuveau. And if a line is there because of lost fullness, sun damage, or because it has become carved into the skin, rather than because of muscle movement, then filler, resurfacing or a skin tightening treatment may suit you better.
Illustrative result
What a result can look like
Illustration, not a patient photograph. Before and after BOTOX Cosmetic treatment for glabellar frown lines. It shows the kind of change this treatment is intended to produce. Individual results vary, and no outcome is guaranteed. Photographs of real patients are published only with written consent.
This is a drawing, not a photo of a patient. It shows a before and after for the frown lines between the eyebrows, to give you an idea of the kind of change this treatment aims at. Results are different for everyone, and nothing is guaranteed. We only publish photos of real patients with their written permission.
Questions patients ask
Is BOTOX Cosmetic a filler?
Is Botox a filler?
No. BOTOX Cosmetic is a neuromodulator that reduces muscle activity. Dermal fillers add or restore volume.
No. Botox quietens a muscle. Fillers add volume back where it has been lost. They are two different things.
What is BOTOX Cosmetic FDA-approved for?
What exactly is Botox approved for?
Current U.S. cosmetic labeling includes temporary improvement of moderate to severe frown lines, forehead lines, crow’s-feet and platysma bands in adults.
In the United States, for temporarily improving moderate to severe frown lines between the eyebrows, lines across the forehead, crow’s feet, and the vertical cords on the front of the neck, in adults.
Will BOTOX make me look frozen?
Will it make my face look frozen?
Not necessarily. Dose and placement can be tailored to preserve desired expression, although too much weakening can create an overly stiff appearance.
Not necessarily. The dose and where it goes can be chosen to keep the expression you want. But too much, in the wrong place, can leave a face looking stiff.
How long does BOTOX Cosmetic last?
How long does it last?
It is temporary. Duration varies by treatment area, dose, anatomy and individual response, so a fixed duration should not be guaranteed.
It wears off. How long depends on the area, the dose, your anatomy and how you respond, so nobody can promise you a set number of months.
Can BOTOX treat areas other than the FDA-approved cosmetic indications?
Can it be used on areas it is not approved for?
Physicians may use a medicine outside its approved list of uses where that is medically appropriate, which is known as off-label use. Any such use should be identified as off-label, and the evidence for it discussed, before treatment.
Sometimes, yes. A doctor is allowed to use a medicine for something it has not been officially approved for, if they judge that it is right for you. That is called off-label use, and it is normal in medicine. If what is being suggested to you is off-label, you should be told so plainly, and told what is known about using it that way.
Talk it through with a physician first.
Every plan starts with an assessment of your skin, your anatomy and what you actually want to change.
This page is general health information, not medical advice. It cannot tell you whether a treatment is right for you. Approved uses, risks and results differ from person to person, and product labelling changes. Ask us at Dermatology and Laser Centre about your own situation, or make an appointment, and seek urgent care for any serious symptom.
