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Chicago Plastic Surgeon, M. Vincent Makhlouf, MD, FACS Talks About Botox and Fillers
I see many patients in my office confused about when Botox is used and when fillers
are better.
The answer lies in the understanding of the mechanism of formation of various wrinkles,
and understanding how Botox and fillers work.
Some wrinkles are the result of exaggerated lines of expression. Meaning that the elements
have always been there but now they appear in a more pronounced fashion and may be present
all the time whereas before they would show only with grimacing or intense facial expression.
Other wrinkles are the result of tissue deflation or tissue relaxation or both.
Wrinkles in different part of the face will be primarily due to one mechanism or another
rarely, both etiologies participate in the aging look.
The lines between the eyebrows are primarily due to muscle contraction.
The lines in the cheek and around the mouth are due to tissue deflation and tissue relaxation
Botox is the agent that by temporarily paralyzing the muscle, eliminates its contraction, and
the resulting bulge in the skin it was creating.
Fillers mainly add volume to a given area, some are permanent, the most popular ones
slowly get recycled through the normal body mechanism.
Here in the first slide, the Skin is pink, fat is yellow, and muscles are red, in the
face the muscles are attached to the skin to provide for facial expression. Botox is
used here to decrease the muscle bulk and to decrease its pull on the skin that accentuates
the lines.
Here, the filler depicted in green is used to fill the wrinkle.
The skin is deflated and hanging, here, the fillers are used to plump the skin back, and
elevate it.
If you would like more information from Dr. Makhlouf and Enhanced Form, please contact
my office at 847-297-8001 or visit my web site at http://www.enhancedform.com