I remember my mom used to tell us kids that frequently, especially when one of us would make a frustrated face or dare to shoot mom an angry glance. Little did I realize that as I got older, Mom’s wisdom would become more fact than fiction.

Every year we grow older, our skin also ages. Our aging skin along with the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles are the result of what could be the combination of a multitude of various factors. In addition to the normal changes to our skin cells, the loss of hormones and decreased collagen production, we also experience changes to areas surrounding the face such as the brow/forehead area caused by muscle contractions.

We have all seen the effects that muscle contractions have on the skin. Are you familiar with those vertical lines that appear between your brows? Those are commonly referred to as “11′s” and are the result from repeated muscle contractions. every time you concentrate, squint, or frown, the muscles that control your brow movement contract. Over time, this will cause the brow skin to furrow and fold. After years of repeated brow contractions, those 11′s can begin to stay prominent, even after your brow muscles are relaxed. Gee, maybe Mom was right after all.

BOTOX® Cosmetic is a purified protein that temporarily treats the fine lines and wrinkles caused by aging and muscle contractions by blocking nerve signals to the muscles in the treatment area. BOTOX® cosmetic achieves this by “stunning” the muscles, thereby reducing the muscle activity that is causing the prominent lines to form between the brows. A BOTOX treatment session consists of a few injection administered by your plastic surgeon. The procedure only takes a few minutes, and there is no down time.