In partnership with SA’s top medical aesthetic companies
The way Botox and fillers are used in skin care for men is different. They accentuate different aspects of a man’s appearance – maintaining what you have, and making you look refreshed and youthful, without losing any of the masculinity of your features.
Many men are realising the benefit of a little jab here or there to erase fatigue lines, plump up unhealthy-looking hollows or tighten a slackening jawline.
Botulinum toxin
Probably the most common injectable used on men, Botulinum toxin (Botox), has been used safely for several decades − first for medical purposes and then to treat the effects of ageing. It works by temporarily deactivating nerves that control specific muscles, selected by the doctor, to stop a deep frown or wrinkling of the area, for example.
Because of a man’s stronger muscles and thicker skin, you may need between 1.5 and 2 times the amount of Botulinum a woman would receive. The treatment blocks the signal to the muscle so it can’t contract, and lasts for about three months.
Our advice: Always go to a trained, specialised doctor who knows where to place the injection and how much to inject for best results.
Things Botulinum toxin are used for:
Ageing prevention
Think of it as an insurance policy for your face – the earlier you start, the longer your face will be wrinkle-free.
Medical uses
Migraine pain; Tourette Syndrome and muscular tics; bruxism or temporomandibular joint (TMJ) syndrome for aching jaws, stiff neck and headaches from jaw clenching and tooth grinding.
Excess sweating
Hyperhidrosis, i.e. excessive sweating of palms, soles and underarms due to overactive sweat glands.
Fill it up!
As both men and women age, they lose facial volume, and for men this can be even more pronounced, especially for serious sportsmen who show a lot of weathering. Deep folds can form around the nose and mouth and the under-eye area, and cheek area start to look hollow, making the face look gaunt and permanently tired.
Injecting a filler into areas that have lost volume – under eyes, temples, cheek hollows and in deep wrinkles and acne scars − can take years off a man’s face and make him look much healthier.
Fillers such as the very popular Restylane are most commonly made from hyaluronic acid (HA), a substance that occurs naturally in the body. Injected into areas that have lost volume, it can plump up the area very naturally, as the HA absorbs multiple times its own weight in water. The treatment can last between six and nine months.
Thread lifting
For a slackening jaw and loose skin, the only option in the old days was surgery. These days, a holistic approach is preferred – i.e. the use of radio frequency and laser technology to tighten the tissues, along with thread lifting.
Threads are used to treat horizontal and vertical forehead wrinkles and fine lines; creased cheeks; sagging eyebrows and nasolabial folds; bags under the eyes; as well as lifting cheeks and jawline.
Specialised threads are inserted by a trained doctor and attached into the skin’s deeper connective tissues. Positioned accurately, this creates tension and firming in the desired direction.
This non-surgical intervention creates no visible scars and heals quickly. It takes only 15 to 40 minutes and has a low risk of pain.
Before you inject
Do your homework about reputable skin-care clinics and the qualifications of the injecting doctors. They need to show training qualifications in the field. Word of mouth is also a good reference.
Beware of bargain offers, which could mean the doctors are either not qualified or that they are using counterfeit products.
For a good result, it always pays to go with the professionals.
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