Today a patient asked me to fill her lips with Botox…
For many people who come to a private clinic for wrinkle treatment, the difference between botox and fillers is not so clear … This is an informative blog article to explain the difference
Does it fill or not?
It doesn’t fill! Wrinkles are caused by a combination of predisposition, loss of elasticity, volume loss and muscle activity. If we want to correct that, we have to optimize our elasticity, supplement our volume and make our muscles work less hard. We cannot change our predisposition, perhaps we can change our habits such as sun-bathing, smoking, stress, unhealthy eating etc, but these are mainly preventive measures. The mentioned causes dictate possible treatment options: preferably no smoking, limiting sun exposure, not too much stress, healthy eating and living, good facial care, muscle relaxation and filling (which will be discussed later)
What does it do?
Botulinum toxin, known under the brand names Botox, Vistabel, Bocouture, Xeomin, Azzalure, Dysport and others, is a muscle relaxant. If used in a controlled manner, it can relax our muscles a little, so that we squeeze less and make fewer wrinkles. Please note, it is not the intention to paralyze muscles so that they no longer do anything, just as an anti-hypertension is not meant to have no blood pressure. It is the amount of product that determines the effect on a muscle! That is why it should be done by a doctor who can best estimate which muscle should be treated with what dosage. It is nothing to play with, it should be taken serious!
What fills lips then?
The best-known product to do this is hyaluronic acid, a substance that our body also makes and which we can also break down ourselves. There are many other substances that are injected to return lost volume, including permanent substances such as silicone oil that have a very bad reputation with very serious complications and mutilations. A very natural way is to inject your own fat (lipofilling). This is a surgical treatment that must be done under sterile conditions. Sterile working is important with all fillers to prevent granulomas and infections. Moreover, a good knowledge of anatomy is essential so that the natural balance is restored and people do not look unnatural and different.
How come the confusion?
The only thing a muscle release and fillers have in common is that they are both injected. Else they are 2 totally different things: botox is a medicine that relaxes muscle fibres and fillers are used to “fill the face”
Diligence
Many of the treatments that make us look fresher and younger are medical procedures. Because you are not sick and you set the indication for such a treatment, it is important that you carefully inform yourself of well-trained specialists. It is best, to only start treatment after a thorough consultation.