Light to medium wrinkles usually disappear completely, deep wrinkles by about 50-70%. With successive treatments, continuing muscle relaxation makes existing wrinkles smoother and smoother and the dosage can be gradually decreased as a result. Following treatment you will examine your face more critically and, like an Old Master examining his work of art, you will never be completely satisfied. Make a note of the changes you would like to see so that we can concentrate on these in the following treatment. One of the great advantages of treatment with botulinum toxin A is the fact that you can shape your own face yourself, experience treatment fully conscious and can reverse the effects. After the initial treatment you should return for a follow-up consultation without fail. After two weeks, you, as the patient, can decide whether you are satisfied with the effect or would like more muscle relaxation. After all, no one has a perfectly symmetrical face and one side of the face may require slight further treatment whilst the other side is perfectly relaxed. The follow-up appointment can be used to make these fine adjustments.
Immediately after the injection a small bruise may form at the injection site. This can be concealed under light make-up and usually disappears after two to three days. Should the substance not disperse as intended in the face, adjacent muscle groups may be affected and temporary unwanted effects may arise. In the treatment of frown lines, these can be: drooping upper eyelid or eyebrow and swelling at the corners of the eye. The eyebrows may be raised at the sides, mostly this is intentional. If this is considered disturbing, it can be treated with an injection of a few units above the site. Small lines may appear at the sides of the eyebrows or existing lines become deeper. In some individual cases headaches are experienced on the day of the injections. In many cases it has been found that patients who suffer from headaches lose their headaches when the expressive muscles in the region of the forehead are relaxed.
Increased sensitivity to sunlight may be experienced in individual cases, particularly if in the past the eyebrows have constantly been drawn together as a protection against sunlight. In the treatment of lines on the forehead, smoothing the wrinkles may result in excess skin, leading to a drooping of the eyebrows or eyelids. This may aggravate the appearance of hooded eyes. In the treatment of crows´ feet, if the substance does not disperse as intended in the region of the eyes vision may be temporarily disturbed (double vision). If smoothing wrinkles results in excess skin, this may spread as far as the nose and possibly compound the wrinkles under the eyes. However, in conclusion it must be stated that the side-effects described above are reversible and are extremely rare, in the range of one per several thousand.