Getting the best out of Botox? It’s simple. The general guideline is to go in to your doctor’s office every 3 to 4 months for re-treatment. But whether you’re cost conscious or simply have trouble committing to appointment dates months out, you may want to wait until you know it’s time for a Botox brush up. The question is, how do you know?
Without a doubt, the easiest way to maintain your wrinkle-free results, is to follow the standard guidelines and plan to schedule your appointment on a regular basis. However, according to Dr. Few, there are a couple of tell-tale signs that signal a green light for your next treatment.
First, you may notice that you involuntarily find your eyebrows lifting along with your entire brow. This is a case of your elevator muscles (the ones that pull the brow up) coming back to life before the depressors do (the muscles that pull the brow down and work with the elevators to maintain balance).
Second, you may experience a slight twitch around the eye.
In either case, Dr. Few explains these as “signs of your muscles waking up after being asleep for awhile.”
And even if you are the type who commit to a regular schedule, knowing when it’s time to re-treat will come in helpful if and when an adjustment in your schedule may be needed. Consider this: Recent research has shown that over time, that you may need fewer treatments per year to maintain your results.
A study published in the medical, peer-reviewed journal Dermatologic Surgery this June treated fifty women between the ages of 30 and 50 for two years. They found that if patients receive Botox every 4 months for 2 years, treatment can be reduced to as little as every 6 months.
In this case, knowing whether it’s 2 or 3 treatments you need could mean having an extra $500 in your pocket. And that, ladies, you can take to the bank!
