Aesthetic problems of the body: how will botulinum therapy help?

It has long been known how botulinum toxin injections can be used to combat age-related manifestations and other imperfections on the face. Botulinum therapy continues to develop – not only new preparations of botulinum toxin appear, but also new methods of their application – for example, to solve some aesthetic problems of the body. Svetlana Larkina, Ph.D., maxillofacial surgeon, chief physician of the Center for Intensive Cosmetology and Anti- -age therapy by Svetlana Larkina»

What is the secret, in your opinion, of a persistent and long-term interest in botulinum toxin therapy? After all, it has been used in solving aesthetic problems for a very long time?

It is difficult to say that it was a very long time ago, since 30 years of using the drug – for medicine, this is not so much. I believe that the success of botulinum toxin therapy lies, among other things, in the rapid onset of results. Almost two weeks after the injection of the botulinum toxin preparation, the result of the procedure becomes visible not only to the patient himself, but also to the people around him. It is very captivating that the objective result of botulinum therapy can be easily demonstrated by simply photographing before and after the procedure, which, as they say, can be practically felt with your hands. And this, I think, is one of the keys to success.

Besides, botulinum toxin therapy is developing, of course. Today, several botulinum toxin preparations have appeared on the market, the doctor can offer the patient a choice of a preparation of one or another company, depending on what aesthetic problems we want to solve.

Botulinum Therapy – this is not a monotherapy, it is one of the methods for correcting any appearance flaws, one of the steps of either an image or an anti-aging procedure. Assuming that we have five steps to perfection, as we say, then only the fourth step – it will be botulinum therapy.

What aesthetic problems of the body can be solved with the use of botulinum toxin therapy?

This is a new direction in the use of botulinum therapy. We have medical indications – what neurologists, orthopedists are actively engaged in, and there are aesthetic problems. This is again muscle hypertonicity, which breaks the contours somewhere. It can be a hypertrophied, quadriceps thigh muscle, it can be a hypertrophied lower leg – this is more common in Asian patients. In patients of our Caucasian race, we often encounter the problem of hypertonicity of any one part of the trapezoid - right or left. This does not lead to yet visible violations, violation of posture – not a pathology when there is no diagnosis yet. Violation of posture occupies an intermediate position between the norm and pathology, but will always provoke pain in the future.

And people don't just come to the doctor if nothing hurts. They will come to the beautician to correct, for example, wrinkles on the face, a deepened nasolabial fold. If there is a violation of posture, the patient will develop facial asymmetry. We will inject this wrinkle, this crease and we will not be able to get a lasting result. But you can work with the body only after consulting with a general specialist - a neurologist, maybe an orthopedist, vertebrologist. In any case, only a tandem of specialists decides where and at what stage, which treatment option to prefer. And botulinum therapy, again, will not be the first, in addition, further it is necessary to consolidate the result, strengthen the antagonist muscles, which we gave a chance to finally enter normal tone. After that, some of our patients do not require injections, they just lead a healthy lifestyle.<

What features of botulinum toxin preparations should a doctor take into account when using them for body correction so as not to harm the patient?

We are always careful about botulinum toxin preparations. This is a toxin, and here the important point is the dosage. For example, very large doses – those that our Asian colleagues give us – for us, for example, are unacceptable. We are different types - the Asian type is always more muscular, the tone and muscle mass is greater. There are many factors that we take into account when choosing a dosage: let's say the patient went in for sports – did not work. Of course, we can roughly measure the strength of the muscle – there are special devices for this, we can measure the thickness of the subcutaneous fat and determine where the fat ends and the muscle begins. These are all steps that require a thoughtful approach from the doctor. We cannot simply prescribe botulinum therapy – we looked at the dosage on the slides, and let's go inject. Of course, you need to undergo training, and think about it, and find colleagues with whom you will work. We also involve an orthopedist in our center, we work very closely with a neurologist. Without this, you will not get a good prolonged result.