Being a mother can be one of the most wonderful and fulfilling roles in a woman’s life. But with all of the joy can come some serious exhaustion and the constant feeling of never having enough time for yourself. Long days and disrupted sleep can take a toll on your skin’s appearance and leave you looking and feeling fatigued. Even more challenging is that busy moms need (and deserve!) treatment solutions that are both effective and respectful of their hectic schedules. If you’re a mom who wants to refresh and revitalize your appearance, but you don’t have a lot of time to spare, the combination of BOTOX® and dermal fillers, like JUVEDERM™, may be precisely what you’re looking for!
“I have some patients who call them the lines of motherhood,” smiles Facial Plastic Surgeon, Dr. Garrett Griffin, pointing to the area between his eyebrows. “And, they’re actually not too far off! When we interact with infants and children we tend to be overly expressive; this is a form of teaching,” Dr. Garrett continues. “We annunciate our words more dramatically and are more expressive with our facial muscles, especially the muscles of the upper face and forehead. Moms, in particular, do this day in and day out for years, causing fine lines and wrinkles on overlying skin.”
Let’s be honest, no one is going to swear off having children in the name of wrinkle prevention, but it’s no fun looking older than you feel either! The goal of Botox and dermal fillers is not to take away movement altogether, or make you look like someone else; it’s simply to make you look more relaxed, refreshed and youthful.
How can BOTOX® help?
How can Botox help treat “the lines of motherhood”? Imagine the muscles that contract when you furrow your eyebrows to tell a child “no.” Now, envision the tiny nerves and receptors on those muscles that are receiving the message from your brain to contract on queue when you say “no.” When Botox is injected into muscles, it temporarily blocks the signal from your brain to those muscles telling them to contract and, therefore, form a wrinkle. The process sets in gradually over about seven to10 days and the smoothing effect lasts up to four months.
“The most common areas I treat with Botox are between the eyebrows, crow’s feet around the eyes, and the horizontal lines across the forehead,” says Dr. Garrett. “Contrary to popular belief, Botox is rarely administered to completely shut down muscle contraction,” he continues. “Most women prefer some movement left so they can keep expression, but lose the lines.”
How can Dermal Filler help?
Fillers like Juvéderm™ are comprised of a substance called Hyaluronic Acid (HA). Naturally occurring in our skin, HA molecules can attract almost a thousand times their weight in water to themselves. This ability causes the surrounding tissue to hydrate and “plump.” Now image injecting HA molecules into the deep fold of a wrinkle, or the hollow, dehydrated area under your eyes; dermal filler has an instant smoothing, restoring and lifting effect on these areas. What’s even better is that results set in immediately and last anywhere from 6 months to 18 months depending on the filler used.
“I have two young children and am in a state of constant admiration of how my wife juggles all of the hats she wears so amazingly well,” shares Dr. Griffin. “It makes me appreciate my female patient base and better understand how busy their lives are outside of our clinic,” he continues. “I want the moms I treat to feel great about the way they look and have that confidence and vitality be able to spread to other parts of their lives. They deserve that.”
Are you a busy mom who would lke to achieve a more refreshed and youthful appearance with BOTOX® or dermal filler? Schedule a consultation with Dr. Garrett Griffin or Dr. Christopher Tolan by calling (651) 632-9700!