Taunton and South Somerset Living Apr - May 2020

ADVERTISING FEATURE
A DISCUSSION OF BOTULINUM
TOXIN TREATMENT
Botulinum Toxin is made under different trade names, for example Azzalure, Botox,
Dysport and Boucoutur. I will refer to it as bot-tox in this article so as not to favour any
one trade name. It is somewhat similar to the fact that your vacuum cleaner could be of any
make, but you are still most likely to call it the ‘hoover’.
Bot-tox originates from the toxin produced by a bacterium which
in full doses can be lethal to the sufferer of botulism, a fairly rare
food-borne condition. I believe that the last outbreak in the UK
was in 1989.
However before you cancel your appointments for bot-tox
treatment with me in fear of paralysis, I must reassure you that
what I inject (usually Azzalure) is a purified and much-diluted
form of the toxin. Aesthetic medical practitioners use it to
paralyse the small muscles of facial expression thereby reducing
the lines in the face which form as a result of the action of these
muscles.
We have all seen them on other people, or even had them
ourselves: the ‘number 11s’ between the eyes (known as the
glabellar area), those horizontal lines across the forehead,
(frontal lines) and the lovely smile-lines radiating out from the
outer corners of our eyes, known prettily as ‘crows’ feet’.
In general I see these wrinkles or creases appearing in many
patients from their later 20s onwards, and I think that the early
30s is the peak time when patients consulting me seem to have
first noticed them or first been bothered by them. People in the
younger age group are more and more having bot-tox injections
to try to prevent the lines ever coming. The theory is that if you
can’t spend a lot of time contracting your muscles, the skin
won’t be forced into scrunching up and leaving marks of this
behind as the skin becomes less elastic with advancing years.
The wrinkles we get are classed as either dynamic lines (those
that only appear when there is movement of the facial muscles)
or static lines (which remain visible even when we are not
contracting any muscles at the time). Once the treatment with
bot-tox has been carried out, the patient must wait up to 2
weeks to see how good a result has been achieved. However
the toxin starts to work earlier on, usually within 2 or 3 days,
although not everyone notices it as early as this.
The review appointment (usually at 2 weeks) offered by the
majority of doctors will be to assess the end result, first to see
if the lines have gone, and then to see if there is any residual
movement in the treated muscles.
It is very important and is in the GMC guidelines, to take before
and after photos because then there is definitive evidence of
the end result. In my practice, if there is any lack of activity, or
an asymmetrical result, I always offer a top-up of the toxin if
appropriate without extra charge.
In most cases, the effect is good and we can expect to meet
again in 3-4 months or even longer if you are lucky enough for it
to last well.
Sometimes there can be more than just paralysis of the muscles,
and especially the frontal muscles can completely lose their
tone resulting in a degree of dropping of the eyebrows. If this
happens there may be ways of improving it using injections in
other places, but not in every case.
If you would like to find out more, or book an appointment for a
free consultation or even for a treatment, please visit my website
where there is a contact form and a ‘book now’ tab, or visit my
facebook page where you can click a booking link.
I see patients in my home consulting room in Pawlett, near J23
of the M5, at NV Salon in Bridgwater, at Manor Lodge Beauty in
Castle Cary, and in Charminster Studio in Bournemouth.
I also visit the wonderful Colorseum in Bideford and the equally
amazing Peach in Barnstaple every 2 weeks.
Dr John Buckmaster MA MB BChir DRCOG
www.drjbuckmaster.co.uk
Freefone: 0800 2545048 Text: 07968181652
Email: aesthetics@drjbuckmaster.org.uk
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