You are echoing a common concern for many patients considering treatment with Botox or Dysport. These two neuromodulators are great for treating “dynamic rhytids”, meaning the wrinkles that are formed from the movement of the muscles underlying the skin. For example, the horizontal lines in your forehead are caused by the action of the frontalis muscle. This muscle is responsible for raising your eyebrows, but when the eyebrows are raised excessively the skin of the forehead is wrinkled – leaving an imprint. With constant wrinkling of the skin, these lines will become etched into the skin.
Botox and Dysport “modulate” the function of muscles. When injections are performed with a heavy hand, the muscle can be completely frozen instead of softened, resulting in an unnaturally smooth appearance. By respecting the anatomy of the underlying muscle, and using microinjections in areas that are critical to movement instead of full doses, the normal movement can be maintained while softening and eliminating wrinkles. Over time, even the etched in lines will begin to soften as the skin is allowed to recover from years of wrinkling.
