Anti-Wrinkle injections are an ideal treatment if you are looking to refresh and rejuvenate your appearance. Anti-wrinkle injections work by temporarily blocking the signals from nerve endings that tell the muscles to move. This causes a reduction in movement of the muscles. Once these muscles are relaxed the lines and wrinkles will disappear very quickly. Before having this treatment there are 5 things you should do.
1. Do Your Research
The most important step before having any medical treatment is to do your research! Many clients often seem to forget that anti-wrinkle injections are in fact a medical treatment.
With so many people performing anti-wrinkle injections it has never been more important to research the practitioner who will be performing your treatment. Not only should you make sure they are a registered nurse, doctor or dentist you should also ensure that they have completed training in aesthetic medicine. Look for a practitioner who attends a number of aesthetic conferences and keeps up to date with all the latest in aesthetic medicine. Excellent aesthetic practitioners will often be published in journals and magazines such as Aesthetic Journal, Aesthetic Medicine Magazine and PMFA News.
Trained medical practitioners will be able to perform advanced procedures and manage complications. Although complications are uncommon you’ll want to go to a doctor who is able to treat complications if they do happen to occur.
Prior to treatment, you should also research the clinic you are going to. From April 2017, all independent clinics in Scotland will have to be registered with Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) to perform anti-wrinkle injections. Unfortunately, this does not include untrained practitioners such as beauty therapists. Look out for the HIS Logo and research the clinic to make sure it is registered with Health Improvement Scotland. If you would like to find out more about the new regulations coming into place read Dr Simon Ravichandran’s interview with the Herald Scotland here.
Remember you are under no obligation to undergo treatment. If at your consultation you don’t feel confident about the practitioner, treatment, cleanliness of the clinic or anything then you do not have any obligation to have the treatment. Most clinics will offer complimentary consultations without same-day injections. That way you can get to know the practitioner, decide if you feel comfortable with them and not feel pressured to go forward with the treatment if you are not completely comfortable.
2. Get Familiar With Common Side Effects
Often people are frightened to have wrinkle relaxing injections because they’re scared of needles. The needles used for anti-wrinkle injections are as thin as possible to make the treatment as painless as possible. We ask all of our clients to rate their pain on a scale from 1-10, 1 being none and 10 excruciating pain. Most clients rate their pain as 1 or 2 relating it to the feeling of a pinch or a flick.
Now toxin injections are often called ‘lunch-time’ treatments because there really is little to no downtime. Most clients experience swelling at the injection sites for approximately 5 minutes after the treatment. The swelling is normally completely gone by the time you actually leave the clinic.
Occasionally there can be slight bruising at the injection sites. This bruising can easily be covered by makeup and will fade within a few days.
3. Understand that you won’t see instant results
Anti-wrinkle injections take up to two weeks to take complete effect. You will see significant results 3-4 days after your wrinkle relaxing treatment but the full effect will be visible after two weeks.
When choosing your aesthetic clinic we recommend choosing a clinic that offers complimentary 2-week review appointments. At your review, your practitioner will discuss the results of your treatment and most importantly check if you are happy with the results. If required your practitioner may top up your toxin to make sure you are completely satisfied with your treatment.
4. Be Realistic About How Long It’s Going To Last
Anti-wrinkle injections impact everyone differently. For some, they may only last a couple of months whilst for others, they may last around 6 months. For the majority anti-wrinkle injections typically last between 3-4 months. If it is your first time having wrinkle relaxing injections you may find that results wear off in less than 3 months. However, as your facial muscles condition to anti-wrinkle injections, the results can last longer.
5. Stop Thinking That More Is Better.
When it comes to anti-wrinkle injections more doesn’t necessarily mean better. A trained aesthetic practitioner will understand the difference between a natural rejuvenated appearance and creating a fake appearance. If you are not happy with the results of your treatment after two weeks you can always have a little more! When you have your two week top up express this to your practitioner and they can top up your toxin.
We hope that you do all these things before having anti-wrinkle injections and hope you consider Clinetix when you are doing your research. If you would like to find out more about Clinetix and our clinics click here. If you would like to find out more about our medical team made up of Drs Emma and Simon Ravichandran click here.