I Give Botox a Marginal Thumbs Up

I had my forehead done over a week ago. You are supposed to wait a full two weeks to see full results, which I may follow up with later.

I'm 40 and my largest complaint was deep furrows and frown lines in my forehead. The injection specialist shot up my entire forehead and gave me two shots around the eye area for "lift".

The horizontal lines on my forehead are almost invisible, but the frown lines have stayed put, in spite of the fact I can't move that area. The injection specialist suggests I may need to return for filler in this area.

I like how much smoother my forehead looks but have mixed feelings about how my expression looks when I laugh or talk. One suggestion I will give to the younger ladies (and guys) out there. If you know you don't like wrinkles, start getting botox BEFORE they set in. When you smile or frown, the lines you see will eventually permanently crease in your skin. I wish I could have gotten to my frown lines 5 years ago. Now I may need to spend much more money for filler.

Overall I think it is worth at least trying.

Okay, I'm back with a follow-up. I just got my second treatment and overall, I'm still satisfied, but looking to get a little less of it next time around. Bottom line is, I waited too long to start this with the frown lines, as they are etched so deeply into the skin, Botox doesn't eliminate them -- only diminish. Diminish is better than nothing, but if I had it to do earlier, I would have started five or so, years sooner.

I don't like not being able to lift the inner sides of my eyebrows. This affects how I make eye contact with people, and the way my eyes light up when I'm happy to see someone. When my first treatment started to wear off just enough to give this part of my expression back, I asked the doctor to give me a bit less, or to not treat the area that controls this movement. He didn't listen to me, so I'm back at square one, not being able to connect to people with my eyes. I'm going to complain, in the hope of getting a discount for next time.

I say overall, if you are in your early or mid thirties, look in the mirror and smile, then frown. The wrinkles you see WILL eventually become permanent and the longer you wait to get Botox the more deeply they will set in. My theory is that if you get small amounts of Botox early on, you can diminish how tightly you can contract those muscles without losing expression. That way you might not ever need enough to freeze your face and not look like yourself.