Everybody worries about age, but we’ve all got choices when it comes to how we deal with it. There’s a moment on the TV show 30 Rock where Liz Lemon, a producer, is pleading with her star actress Jenna, who’s become obsessed with looking younger. She’s in her 30s, but trying to convince everyone she’s only just reached her 20s. Liz is trying to convince her to try to age gracefully instead of lashing out against the forces of time in a battle she can’t ever win: “You can be like Madonna and cling to your age with your Gollum arms, or you can be like Meryl Streep and embrace your age with elegance!” she pleads. Jenna pauses for a moment to consider her options, then looks up resolutely and answers that she chooses Madonna.
This may just be a scene from a comedy TV show, but if you’re a woman who’s getting older and necessarily contending with wrinkles and fine lines, the debate at the heart of their conversation may still feel uncomfortably familiar. We all understand that the “Meryl Streep” option is the one we are supposed to want to take – to embrace our age gracefully, to never try to hide who we are or go to extreme, dangerous lengths just to look a little bit younger. But at the same time, we all feel a twinge of sadness when we look in the mirror and see smile lines and crows’ feet deepening where before there was nothing but smooth skin. It’s only natural to want to hang on to the youthful glow we had before – there’s nothing wrong with that. But how do we reconcile the desire to look youthful with the understanding that we shouldn’t drive ourselves crazy trying to do it?
At Skin Vitality, we’ve considered this question a lot, because we’re not just cosmetic professionals – we’re human beings just like you who have faced down this problem ourselves any number of times. Between dealing with our own feelings when it comes to aging and treating the hundreds of patients that come in and out of our clinics every day, we believe we’ve come up with an answer: Botox®.
Chances are you’ve heard of this treatment, but may not understand what it actually entails. Botox® is administered as an injection, but it’s different than the other dermal or injectable filters you may have heard of. Instead of injecting a substance that fills in or “plumps” the areas of your face affected by wrinkles, Botox® treatments stop the muscles from contracting. This involves an injection of Botulinum Toxin A into these problem areas. The chemical, which is inserted with a super-fine needle, works to block signals to and from the nerves in the muscles below the wrinkled areas of your skin; this ensures that these muscles will not perform the contractions that eventually lead to (or exacerbate existing) wrinkles.
Botox® has two major advantages over competing methods of getting rid of wrinkles – it’s noninvasive and fast, and the changes it makes are noticeable but subtle. You can get back to living your life immediately following the treatment, and while people will certainly notice the change in your look, it’s not as dramatic as, say, a full facelift. With Botox® the change is subtle, dynamic, and works with your current look as opposed to against it. Everyone you know will be asking for your secret, but you don’t have to give it away if you don’t want to!
At Skin Vitality, we’re committed to helping you look your best and feel your most confident; come in and talk to us about what Botox® injections can do to help you age gracefully – but with younger-looking skin.