Look younger and enhance your appearance

Do these injectable treatments hurt?  

 

Any treatment injected around the upper lip or the eyebrows tends to hurt somewhat, but with Dysport® it's injected with the finest insulin needle and is pretty painless.

 

Around the eyebrow it can feel a little bit like a tiny bee sting sometimes but it depends (like with waxing) on the time of the month and how stressed you are, if you are relaxed it hurts far less.  

 

For fillers, I use a numbing cream and for anything around the mouth I actually also administer a numbing injection to ensure the least possible pain. Dysport® is not painful enough to warrant this. I also inject slowly to the person's needed pace so they don't feel pressured and anxious throughout the treatment.

 

What happens during a treatment?  

 

With Dysport®, I will swab the areas to be injected and then do a series of tiny injections into the areas of the face that cause the movement and in turn the lines.  

 

It takes up to 2 weeks to work, at which time I have you come in for a follow-up treatment to check that it is all perfect and if there is anything still moving that we don't want to, I fix it for free.  

 

After this the treatment slowly starts to wear off and you have more and more movement so we need to check you at this least-moving period.  

 

If you start before the age of 40 we have the best chance of completely removing any lines. After the age of 40 you still may have small crease lines but your deep lines will fade away. With fillers I will apply a numbing cream, and numbing injections if necessary, and then inject the fillers, and you will have an instant result.

 

Is there anything you should do (or avoid) prior to a treatment?  

 

Nothing prior to treatment for Dysport®, but it is best, if you are having fillers to stop any fish oils, or flax oils that you are taking at least 1 week before treatment, preferably 2 weeks because these cause bruising which in turn can take about 2 weeks to settle.

 

Is there any downtime after the treatment?  

 

After Dysport® we don't like you to rub the area or lie down for about 4 hours. Although the relaxing agent leaves your body within 3 hours, we like to be safe and ensure everything stays where we put it.  

 

With fillers it is preferable that you don't exercise or go into hot spas because this can increase blood flow which in turn will make more bruising.

 

Are there any possible side effects?

 

With Botulinum Toxin Type A you may get bruising at the site of the injections. Some people get a headache for a few hours afterwards; in rare cases you can get a drooping eye but no-one has ever had that that I have injected. Some people can get flu-like symptoms which last up to 1 week but no-one who I have injected has suffered that either.  

 

A very small percentage of the population do not achieve any change and the treatment simply does not work for them, we can't predict who these people will be prior to treatment. We will not inject anyone who is breast feeding or pregnant. There are some medical conditions where you shouldn't have treatment also but that can be discussed with your injector. With fillers, most are hyaluronic acids that are naturally occurring in the body, so the only side effects you are likely to experience are possible bruising and swelling in the area. Some clients of mine bruise at one treatment and at another have not the slightest dot of a bruise.  

 

Will my face look ‘frozen’?

 

The frozen idea, I think comes from having an over-injection of fillers, more than Dysport® or Botox® injections. At 2 weeks, if you have Dysport® or Botox®, injected into your forehead, for example, you won't move in that area, but it gradually wears off and you begin to move about 2 weeks after that. No one seems to notice, much like if a man shaves off his beard, people notice he looks different but not quite what has happened.... with injectables, if they are done correctly, you just look fresher and relaxed, you might say you've changed your eye shadow, or you're sleeping better and people will generally believe you.

 

How often will I need to have my treatment topped up?

 

With Botulinum Toxin Type A you need a top up about every 3 to 3.5 months initially, but after regular treatments you can push it out longer and longer to about every 6 months.  

 

With fillers you need treatments about every 3 months until you are at what I call a baseline. Then you just have to top up about every 6 months. Fillers last anything from 6 months to 2 years depending on the filler, but it settles into your face. Until you build it up to a 'baseline', you do need top-ups; however the pace you do it is completely up to you. Some people will have a lot to start with and then won't need anymore for quite a long time. Others will build into it and pace it having small amounts until they achieve the overall look they want. A lot of people will only have them about 6-monthly to a year.

 

Are there any benefits to starting treatments while you’re young and don’t have many wrinkles?  

 

Some people may need to start earlier than others, in about your mid 30s most people definitely benefit from a refreshing enhancement. But it's entirely up to the individual. I would recommend starting before the age of 40 then you have more options but older people can also benefit a lot from treatments. Many people are starting in their 20s these days but I personally don't think this is a necessity, it's just personal choice.