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More Questions about BOTOX® Cosmetic
Why do muscles cause wrinkles?
One important aspect of muscle action is conditioning. Nerves and muscles learn to work together to perform complex tasks with only "shorthand" notes from the brain. Consider, for example, learning to drive. When you first learn to drive, you have to think hard about how much to turn the wheel to make the car go where you want, but later you just decide where you want to go and in many cases your body can turn the wheel the right amount to get you there without too much direction.
Some facial wrinkles are a side effect of muscle conditioning. The muscles in our face are constantly moving to form expressions. As a result, they can become conditioned to anticipate the most-commonly-performed contractions. They simply stay contracted, leading to facial wrinkles. If this occurs, you may want to consider the skin rejuvenation enhancements of BOTOX® Cosmetic.
How, exactly, does BOTOX® Cosmetic work?
BOTOX® Cosmetic works by causing a temporary partial paralysis in muscles that cause wrinkles. When these muscles are paralyzed, they relax, and the wrinkles they cause are smoothed.
As with many drugs, the exact mechanism of BOTOX® Cosmetic is not completely understood. The following reflects the current theory about its mechanism of action. BOTOX® Cosmetic achieves paralysis by interfering with the chemical pathway by which nerves tell muscles to contract: the release of a chemical known as acetylcholine. BOTOX® Cosmetic's active ingredient is onabotulinum toxin A, which is a very large organic molecule made up of two sub-parts, referred to as the small chain and the large chain. The large chain has a "key" that fits the "lock" on nerve cells and allows BOTOX® to enter the nerve. Once inside, the BOTOX chains separate, and the small chain does its job. The small chain attacks one of the proteins required to release acetylcholine (known collectively as the SNARE complex), the SNAP-25 protein. Once this protein is broken, the nerve can no longer release acetylcholine to tell the muscle to contract.
Does BOTOX® Cosmetic completely paralyze my muscle?
It can, but when proper dosage is used, the paralysis is only partial, affecting some nerve endings and not others, allowing you to show voluntary expressions (although potentially somewhat reduced). If improper Botox dosing or injection technique is used, the paralysis can be more widespread than desired, so it's important to work with an experienced injector.
Why are the effects of BOTOX® Cosmetic temporary?
The effects of all botulinum toxins are temporary. There are two reasons for the temporary effect. First, when your nerve senses that its ending is not transmitting, it begins to grow a new ending, which allows the nerve to resume communication with the muscle. This process takes 3-5 months. Over a longer period of time, the original nerve ending may restore the function of its SNARE complex, and then the new ending will retract, so that there are no permanent effects of BOTOX® Cosmetic treatment.
If you are interested in BOTOX® Cosmetic, Botox injections to treat masseteric hypertrophy or other skin rejuvenation procedures, please schedule an appointment at Kim Facial Plastic Surgery today.
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