I have a lot of patients who ask me about the role of what I call “maintenance Botox or Dysport”, when fine lines and wrinkles are just starting, as opposed to “treatment Botox or Dysport”, when the lines and wrinkles are driving you nuts.
A study was published in 2006 by Dr. William Binder in the Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery demonstrating the safety and effectiveness of using BOTOX® over a long period of time to treat and prevent facial wrinkles. This study involved identical twin sisters one of whom received regular BOTOX® over a 13 year period and the other who only used it only a few times in her forehead and glabellar regions (area between the eyebrows) and not at all for her crows feet area. No adverse effects or problems were encountered in either twin but the effects on wrinkle prevention in the treated twin are dramatic particularly in the crows feet area. Note that the photos of both sisters were taken when neither of them had any Botox on board. Amazing!
The minimally treated twin (images on the left) and the regularly treated twin (images on the right). Hyperfunctional lines in the forehead and glabellar regions are visible in the minimally treated twin but not in the regularly treated twin.
Oblique views of the forehead and glabellar lines that are visible in the minimally treated twin (left side images) but not in the regularly treated twin (right side images). The crow’s feet are also shown at rest.
Crow’s feet when smiling are more visible in the minimally treated twin (left side images) than in the regularly treated twin (right side images), even though the crow’s feet of the regularly treated twin had been treated with botulinum toxin type A (Botox; Allergan Inc, Irvine, Calif) only twice in the last 2 years.