Kayla Young
If you have started to notice fine lines or stubborn wrinkles, then you may have made the choice to try botox. Loved by celebrities and adopted by many beauty enthusiasts, botox has become more recognized as the cosmetic intervention among millennials since it was approved by the FDA in 2002.
Eliminating frown lines to give you a more youthful appearance is the prize. However, some people don’t use it for simple vanity reasons or delaying the aging process.
Many people also get botox injections to deal with acne, help relieve migraines, take care of jowls, or stop underarm sweat glands from producing too much sweat. But getting rid of wrinkles is Botox’s specialty.
So now your question might be how long does it take for botox to work?
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What is Botox Exactly?
Used to reduce frown lines and other facial wrinkles that show develop with aging, botox is a drug that paralyzes the facial muscle by blocking the nerve transmitters that are affected.
It’s a neurotoxin protein known as Botulinum toxin, made from a bacterium that is actually one of the deadliest poisonous toxins ever discovered.
This means if you’re vegan, you may want to reconsider having botox because since it’s classified as a medicine (and should be administered by a qualified medical professional), it was tested on animals before human use to ensure its safety by law.
This means it can’t be considered cruelty-free or vegan.
Botox is injected into the muscles to stop them from contracting when you make any facial expressions, such as smiling, crying, frowning or laughing.
Not contracting causes the muscles to become paralyzed or relax so that they appear flaccid.
The end result is that your skin will look smooth and give you a more youthful appearance. The drug is injected just under the skin and into the facial muscles via a very thin needle.
The end result is that your skin will look smooth and give you a more youthful appearance.
Botox has become popular because it gives results that are fast and relatively pain-free way to keep looking young without the higher monetary and physical costs of cosmetic surgery.
But because botox is also a neurotoxin, it does have the possibility of causing adverse side effects, so is not suitable for everyone.
Botox has to be regularly maintained, or the wrinkle-reducing power will disappear.
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How Long Does It Take For Botox To Work?
Although it’s FDA approved, botox is a dangerous neurotoxin, so it is of utmost importance that you are injected by a qualified medical doctor or other qualified medical professional or else you could put yourself in real danger.
Beauty isn’t important if it can kill you!
Most people will see maximum results anywhere between 10 to 14 days after injection, and this will last for up to three months before you start noticing the effects waning. This amount of time can vary due to several circumstances which we have outlined below.
It takes a while for the botox to fully work because it needs time to reach the muscles cells so that it can block the nerve endings.
When it is first injected into the muscle, the toxin is distributed by a process called convection, which is dependent on the temperature of the drug.
Cooling increases the uptake into the facial muscles after it is injected. Botox is not only used in facial treatments. It is also used to treat:
- Excessive sweating
- Headaches and migraines
- Muscular spasms and disorders
- Neck and jaw issues from teeth grinding
Because of its popularity among celebrities, there’s a big myth that botox will make any unwanted imperfections disappear from your face (that’s the Photoshop and filters doing the real work there).
For most people, however, botox acts more as a preventative treatment to stop the progress of further wrinkles than as a facial restorer.
For example, if your wrinkles are caused by gravity or sun damage, botox won’t make this disappear.
The Botox Variables
With a typical treatment of injections, most people notice an improvement between two to four days after the inflammation caused by the immune system’s response calms down.
However, this timing can be different for each person, depending on:
Age
Botox has been approved for use by anyone over the age of 18. But the older you get, the more wrinkles you’ll have and the lower your skin’s elasticity, which will affect the dosage and results.
Amount of Injection
Overdoing the botox with more units than you need will result in Madonna’s “pillow face” effect, Nancy Pelosi’s “Vulcan brow” and the creepy frozen face look that has the potential of causing permanent disfigurement.
Gender
The average dosage of botox for women is 30-50 units, while for men it’s 50-80 units. This is because males have denser facial muscles and therefore metabolize the drug at a different rate. Botox is typically priced on a per-unit basis.
Physical activity
Most experts recommend you wait at least 24 hours after your injections before you take up any physical activity, including anything that makes you sweat.
This is because botox stimulates an increase in blood flow, which can cause the botox to move around and away from its targeted injection sites.
Getting physical can also increase the possibility of bruising at the injection sites. So not even a chilled-out downward dog would be a good thing if you’ve been injected within 24 hours of a yoga session. You also need to be careful positioning yourself for sleep during this time.
Product type
It’s the protein’s molecular size that affects the degree to which the relaxation activates in the muscle. This means the different proteins of the different types of botox on the market will give varying effects and results.
In addition, it can take a while for the maximum outcome of your botox injections to materialize. However, many people will see their maximum results fully appear within a week.
Now let’s take a look deeper at what you can expect from you botox treatment.
Does Botox Hurt?
Because botox is injected using very small needles, most people don’t experience anything more than a slight discomfort, especially if a numbing agent is used.
If you have a low pain threshold, though, you might want to prepare yourself, as some do have stinging pain that can last up to 30 minutes after your treatment.
During the next few days as the botox is taking effect, you shouldn’t feel any discomfort or pain, although it is possible to experience feeling ‘heavy’ wherever the botox was injected.
The good news is, though, that your treatment will most likely last anywhere from 3-6 months, so a little pain every now and then may be worth it for many.
Once the botox starts working and settling into your muscles, you’ll feel a tight sensation on your skin. It may even feel a bit tingly.
Don’t rub any of the treated areas, because doing this can result in bruising or drooping from the botox being moved around.
Prepare Yourself
Before getting Botox, there are a couple of things to be aware of that could cause your treatment to go awry.
Lay off any anti-inflammatory medication or aspirin at least two weeks before your procedure in order to reduce any bruising.
You should also avoid alcohol for at least a week beforehand.
If you are under 18, pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a neurological disease, then you should also stay away from the needles. And since you’ll be getting treated by a registered nurse or a doctor, be sure to notify them of any issues with your health status.
The Real Deal
Using Botox isn’t for everyone.
With so many cosmetic solutions available that combat the signs of aging, it’s important to do your homework before taking the plunge — or rather, the needles!
And you should really take heed of the fact that there it’s a possibility you’ll experience very real adverse side effects of having this toxin injected into your body.
In 2009, the manufacturer of botox had a number of lawsuits brought up against it, including 180 cases pertaining to life-threatening conditions and 16 deaths.
In response, the FDA requires that botox comes packaged with a black box label, which is meant to alert the public of any serious or life-threatening risks that can result in disability, hospitalization, or death, and even cause birth defects.
This means that technically, you’ve been warned of the risks and will have little to no legal recourse if something does go wrong.
Most people aren’t even aware of the black box label, because more often than not, doctors don’t disclose this information.
So before your treatment, ask to see the black box label so that at least you’ll be armed with the facts. Because if you do have an adverse reaction, you’ll have done it at your own risk.
Conclusion
Aging is a beautiful process that is a fact of life, and natural beauty comes in many forms.
Not everyone gets the chance to age and the societal pressure to look younger has more to do with advertising corporations lining their pockets than your self-value and esteem.
Not one model or actress that you see on billboards and magazines, or even influencers’ social media posts, promote and show off natural beauty.
Because according to advertising corporations, natural beauty doesn’t sell. Photoshop and Insta filters do!
A healthy, warm lifestyle is an extremely powerful way to not only keep wrinkles at bay but can even reverse them.
So simply drinking enough water to keep your skin optimally hydrated and eating whole foods to feed proper nutrition to your body has the ability to make you youthful for longer.
And the most attractive thing about any person is their confidence.
We understand that many will still want to try botox. It will take 10 days to 2 weeks to fully take effect, and will last for 3-4 months, depending on your circumstances.
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