Botox

A couple of years ago, I said, "I would never get Botox."

Yeah. You know what happens when you say "never". Last Friday, I ate my words.

I called my dermatologist's office to ask about Restylane injections, but was told that she only does Juvederm. While talking to the receptionist, I discovered that they only have two clients who use Juvederm, but they have a huge Botox clientele. That sparked my interest, so I started asking questions. Turns out, almost all of the employees in the office get Botox, too! LOL! They were offering a half-price special for first-time Botox users, so glabellar (the area between the eyebrows) injections were just $150.

Gus went to the appointment with me and even went back to the treatment room. Several people commented on how they weren't used to seeing husbands there. The doctor said that he was the first husband to be in the room - ever. Turns out, all of their Botox clients keep it on the down low. Yep - secret bank accounts, secret cell phone numbers - and when they call the client's home, they have to say they're calling to schedule their "procedure". Wow. I was honestly shocked. It never occurred to me to not tell Gus.

The nurse gave me an icepack to put on my forehead - to help numb it a little and to also help keep any swelling to a minimum. Then the doctor came in and had me frown so she could mark the injection spots with a neon yellow highlighter, LOL. I iced the area for a few more minutes and then she was back with the Botox. She did tell me that the line between my eyebrows wouldn't go away with one injection - but that it would disappear over time - possibly with a second injection and definitely with a third.

There were 5 injection sites - in a vee formation. The needle is very tiny and I only felt a small pinprick with each injection. I couldn't feel the Botox when it was injected. Immediately afterward, there was a little bit of throbbing, but it wasn't even what I would consider "headache level". There was minimal bleeding (I do take aspirin) and swelling - and we went to brunch immediately after we left the office.

After a couple of hours, the areas started to feel a little "weird". Sort of numb, but not really because I could still feel them and move my forehead. Around 8pm that night (about 10 hours after), I had a tight sensation across my forehead - which gave me a headache. Excedrin knocked the headache, no problem.

Day 1 - 4: Not much difference. I do think my eyebrows looked a bit more arched (which the dr. said was a desired "side effect"), but I could still move the muscles in my forehead and make a "frown". Since I had been told that I should see a difference in about 3 days, I called the dr's office to make sure everything was okay. They were a bit surprised, but said that it can take up to 2 weeks to get the full effect. Apparently, some people have stronger muscles, and those take longer to show the effects of the Botox. Probably all of those facial exercises, LOL! But the doctor said that if I could still move the muscle after 2 weeks, to call her back.

At Day 4, I thought my brow area looked more smooth (along with the arched brows), and the furrow between my eyebrows looked more shallow. Yay!!

Day 5-6: I saw a little change every day. The area definitely looks smoother and more "rested". Each day I was able to move my brows less, and I had to work a lot harder to make a frown.

Day 7: Today, I could barely make a scrunched frown. I can still move my eyebrows up & down, but I can't scrunch them together to form a frown. So the muscle is affected, but my entire forehead is definitely not paralyzed - and I don't think that anyone would ever be able to tell that I had Botox injections.

Here are the pictures (and they are all untouched - much to my dismay, LOL!)...

The first two were taken so you could see what the injection sites looked like:

the injection sites right after I left the office

taken 4 hrs. after the Botox

The next three pictures were taken in the same room, with the same lighting - I tried to keep my face as relaxed as possible for each picture. They were taken before the Botox, at Day 4, and at Day 7.

before Botox (ignore the crossed eyes, LOL!)

Day 4

Day 7

The next two pictures are of me frowning - they're taken in the same room, with the same lighting, and with me attempting to make the same scrunched motion. They were taken on Day 4 and Day 7. Unfortunately, I forgot to take a "before" frown picture. But at Day 4, I still had pretty much the same movement as before the injections. There was considerably more effort put into the frown on Day 7.

Day 4

Day 7

I will continue to take pictures through Day 14, and if there are changes, I'll do an update. Overall, I'm pleased with the results and would definitely do it again! I may even consider doing side bangs - something I've never done!!

Have any of you ever tried Botox or injectable fillers? What was your experience? If you haven't tried it - would you?