How long will my Botox last?
One of the most common questions asked in aesthetics clinics is “How long will Botox last”?
Well the answer is more nuanced than a simple “3-4 months” answer.
There are many people coming to have Botox treatments and my goal is to help inform and educate patients to make the right decisions for their aesthetics treatments.
In this blog I’ll address this question about how long your treatment will last.
Longevity of Botox - what do the studies say vs reality?
There have been many studies testing how long a patient’s Botox treatment may last, and it does depend on the area of the face being treated, but generally, 3-4 months is quoted in the literature. This is for treatments around the eyes, forehead and frown.
Matching this up to the experience of having treated many thousands of patients over the past 7 years, I’d say this is about right!
However, it is important to understand several things.
Firstly - for most people, when Botox wears off, their skin will not suddenly go back to what it was before. In fact, the opposite is true; for most people after resting the skin for 3 months, the skin is likely to look smoother and fresher, even though the muscle movement is back. Think of it like the skin has had a 3 month holiday, no movement, just resting! Gradually the skin will return to normal, and lines will return.
Secondly - Some patients message after 6 weeks or so saying their treatment has worn off. Why could this be? Well sometimes the dosing is not right, especially on the first go, and all it takes is a higher dose, and next time it lasts the full 3 months. Remember, if you’ve come into the clinic terrified of looking fake and begging me for a natural look, I’m going to inject more conservative doses the first time. In addition to this, there may be a perception treatment has worn off, but actually, there is still significantly less movement than pre-treament - it’s just you’ve got used to it.
“What about my friend who got 6months out of her treatment?” you ask….
There are always those people (the lucky ones!) who are able to go 6months or more inbetween treatments and why this is the case is uncertain.
I’ve seen thousands of patients in my aesthetics clinics and have come up with the following conclusions, which are my own opinion, not necessarily clinically proven.
I think probably due to a number of factors including genetics but also their propensity for expression - I think some patients just give up trying to frown after having Botox and therefore their muscle becomes weaker and lazy, so even after it has worn off there is still way less/virtually no movement in their frown muscle complex.
Conversely I find some patients spend a lot of time trying to get the muscles to move, looking in the mirror for any flicker of movement, and I personally think this is reinforcing the brain to start building connections to the muscle again. Just relax, stop checking the movement, and you may find the muscle gets a bit lazier.
I also find some of my Crossfit/regular gym goer patients , and those who self confess having a stressful job/life do end up having more frequent treatment and I think this is due to constant tendency to frown or grimace.
But like everything related to drug metabolism and clinically how this presents, there is a difference between person to person and we may never fully understand why this is.
What can you do to help your results?
This is probably the most important section of this article.
1) Protect your skin from UVA/UVB - wear sunscreen and hats, DON’T use sunbeds (I still have patients who do - I guarantee you they will regret it).
2) Eat well - lots of antioxidant rich foods, gut friendly foods, avoid junk food and alcohol which accelerate DNA damage and ageing.
3) Sleep - can’t be overstated how important getting enough sleep is. People don’t prioritise this enough
4) Stress- Chronic stress accelerates ageing and we are learning more and more about the science of this. If you are struggling with stress, I can highly recommend a book called The Stress Solution by Dr Rangan Chatterjee.
5) Quality skin products - If you haven’t tried a good vitamin C such as Skinceuticals I urge you to try it. Results with long term use are phenomenal. Retinols when used properly at the right dose are also fantastic, along with good quality cleansers, exfoliators, hydrators and sunscreen.
Contact Skinphinity if you’d like a consultation or an overhaul of your skincare regime. If you’ve ever complimented my skin, its all down to the above factors!
Written by Dr Adam Cheong
GMC 7079895
GP & Facial Aesthetics Doctor
