Q: What is the use of botulinum toxin for cosmetic results?
A: Botulinum toxin (Botox) is basically approaching that you inject in specific muscles of the face in order to relax them. When you relax those muscles you have the effects of improving the so called expression lines other benefits to the applications that has to do with improving sometimes symmetry in these patients.
Q: Dr. Montes what is it botulinum toxin and how is it used for cosmetic reasons?
A: First all I want to say that the botulinum toxin is a protein, is a natural product and the purpose to inject this protein in your face is to improved the so called expression lines and the patients after the treatment experience a relaxation that makes them look and appear younger and relaxed.
A: The medication is injected in tiny needles at your doctor confidence in a basically painless way.
Q: How longer the treatment last?
A: After you get injected you should expect to experience within three, four days and ongoing relaxation of the injected sites or muscles and this these relaxation for the effect should last between three or five months. There are some patients in which the effect last longer, but is believed than in those patients is because a patient learn not to recruited those muscles to activity.
Q: How many treatments have you given in your medical experience?
A: I started using the medication on 1991-1992 for medical results, blepharospasmus, that is a disorder in ophthalmology, and after that I moved in 1993 to using medication for cosmetic results and since then I believed that I have treated 5,000 patients with this medication.
Q: What are those complications that you have seen in about 1 or 2% of patients?
A: Let’s we find what is a complication. Complication is an event unexpected for the patient or for the physician and I think that among the complications one of them is probably the patient believe the medication or the treatment didn’t work as he expected. When I am in those situations I ask to the patient to come to the office and we both examine pictures before the treatment and after the treatment. And then most of the time the patient basically gets convinced that there is not complication and they indeed get the good effect.
Q: What are the complications that you have seen in these 5000 thousand cases treated?
A: I think one of the most common complications is probably bruising, a small emathoma on the injection area and this is something that its last probably within few days.
Q: It is common or uncommon?
A: This is rather uncommon complication and you can basically avoid this if you use the proper technique.
Q: Have you seen since any heavvier complication in the eye or for he general health of the patient?
A: The only complication that is described and that I have seen in probably 1% of the patients is probably a little bit of the droopy eyelid after the injection. As I said before is a rather uncommon complication. Usually lasts for 2 weeks and during the time the eye is droopy there are certain items can be used to manage this.
Q: Using bottom and fillers would you be able to avoid surgery?
A: I think that injectables like botulin toxin and fillers are basically a complement to surgery. You can hands the results of any surgery with this treatments and in some patients that are unready for surgery or that has no indications for surgery you can do injectables, botulin toxin or fillers as the first line of treatment.