What does Botox do for 11s?
What Botox does is block the signal from the nerve to the muscle telling it to contract or to move. There are many of these receptors and the more Botox that you use the less the muscle will move until the point of being "frozen" or paralyzed.
If you just use a little bit of Botox it will just weaken the muscle . There are some muscles in our face that lift things up and others that pull things down. When you weaken the muscles that pull down then the ones that lift up are not working against any thing and then they can, in a way, perform a lift. When we make a facial expression and muscles contract.
If you frown your eyebrows together in the mirror you will see often two vertical lines. In our younger years when you relax those two vertical lines disappear, but as you get older after doing the same movement over and over again, the skin weakens from the repetitive expression and you will begin to have a permanent line there or two also known as the "11".
Of course it's hard not to make a facial expression that is unconscious and spontaneous, so Botox helps to weaken those muscles and overtime those lines can soften or fade.
For people who are nervous about doing Botox, they can rest assured that it wears off after about 3 months or so and there is no permanent change to your face. However, that is also bad news if you like that change and you will need to continue maintenance and get more Botox every 3 to 4 months. Over time, your muscles will weaken and you may not need as much Botox because the muscles get trained not to move and you break the habit .
Dr.Lily Love
Facial Plastic Surgeon
AUTHOR
Lily Love M.D.Lily Love is the Medical Director and Co-Founder of the Santa Fe Skin Institute. Dr.Love is a Board Certified Facial Plastic Surgeon who has practiced in Los Angeles to New York City. With over a decade of experience in Aesthetic Medicine she brings her expertise to the Santa Fe Skin Institute.