In partnership with SA’s top medical aesthetic companies
Before it was discovered that botulinum toxin could smooth our wrinkles, it was used medically to treat all sorts of conditions, such as the tics that result from Tourette syndrome, and muscular spasms in clubfoot, MS and migraines.
As the medical application of injectables continues to grow, it is crucial that you choose an experienced injector, who knows precisely where and how to use these treatments.
Jaw relief
The condition medically known as bruxism or TMJ syndrome is pretty common. You wake up in the morning with aching jaws, stiff neck, headache and even migraine as a result of grinding your teeth and clenching your jaw during the night. This is due to stress, sleep apnea or just a bad habit. Apart from the above effects, you also end up wearing down your teeth.
One solution is to wear a dentist-fitted bite plate that prevents teeth grinding Another is to strategically inject botulinum toxin into specific areas of the jaw muscle to reduce grinding and clenching, without affecting proper muscle function. Experience shows that pain usually start dissipating after a week, and that after the second treatment (about six months later), the habit is usually broken.
No sweat!
People who struggle with hyperhidrosis – excessive sweating of palms, soles and underarms due to overactive sweat glands – find this condition can affect them severely emotionally and cause extreme social anxiety.
Antiperspirants and medication don’t touch sides, and since it was discovered that botulinum toxin is effective in blocking nerve signals that trigger sweat overproduction, life has become a lot more manageable for sufferers.
All it takes is a few strategic injections into the palms, underarms or soles to offer relief for between six to nine months, after which the treatment is repeated. These treatments are approved by the American FDA as safe for use by all skin types.
Smile with confidence
Many of us who have gummy smiles are self-conscious about our exposed gums and teeth. One of the causes of gummy grins is a hyperactive muscle that lifts the upper lip too high, and it can be made worse by a thin upper lip. Happily, it’s easy to fix by injecting a tiny amount of botulinum toxin into that lip-lifting muscle, as well as a small amount on both sides of the nose. Within four days, the muscles are relaxed, and two weeks later you can smile with full confidence.
Migraines
A migraine is a debilitating kind of headache. Attacks cause severe pain in one or both sides of the head and are often associated with sensitivity to light, nausea and vomiting. Migraine sufferers can’t work – or often even move – during an attack.
As well as using painkillers during an acute attack, medications are needed on an ongoing basis to try and reduce the number of migraine attacks each month. Botulinum toxin injections have been found to reduce the number of migraine attacks. They are thought to act by suppressing nerve conduction signals in the face. This form of migraine treatment has been approved by the American FDA. Injections are given at strategic points on the face, and effects can last up to six months.
‘Brazilian’ butt lift
As result of ageing the skin on our buttocks may become “crepey” and wrinkled, and our buttocks may begin sagging. While doing a butt lift with PDO threads won’t bring you the Kim Kardashian look achieved with surgical implants, it can improve smoothness and give your buttocks a fuller, lifted appearance.
This is not an instant fix. The skin has to be prepped for three months with Titania or Exilis Radio Frequency and carboxytherapy treatments to stimulate collagen production, and then, after three months, between 30 and 90 threads are inserted into the buttock area and tightened to produce the desired lift.
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