On the path to restoring their former beauty and youth, women encounter many procedures and medications. Thus, one of the most popular procedures - the injection of Botox - leaves many patients confused: what is the difference in the use of Botox, Dysport, Xeomin and others? Which one is better/worse, more expensive or cheaper? Let's try to deal with these issues once and for all.
Botulinum toxin type A has been used in cosmetology for several decades. Its task is to eliminate facial wrinkles due to muscle fiber relaxation, as well as correct hyperhidrosis. The toxin blocks neuromuscular transmission, thereby relaxing the muscle.
The most well-known drugs today are the following: Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, Lantox, Relatox. These products are certified and approved for use in the Russian Federation.
We will analyze and compare the composition of the most common botulinum toxins type A, and also try to compare them based on the analysis of this data.
Age-related changes in the lip area
Plump lips in a charming smile are one of the main features of a woman’s attractiveness. But with age it is lost. Already at 25 years old, the first age-related changes may appear in the form of drooping corners of the lips. Gradually, wrinkles will be added to them. And by the age of 35-40, age-related changes will already become noticeable.
What happens to the lip area over the years:
- Volume disappears.
The lips “deflate” as the fat layer decreases. The visible red part of the lips becomes smaller. - Wrinkles appear around the mouth.
Basically, these are purse string wrinkles (smoker's lines, running up and down from the lips in a vertical direction) and marionette wrinkles (sorrow lines: from the corners of the mouth to the base of the chin). This is due to the fact that the skin becomes thinner, subcutaneous tissues change, and muscles become overstrained. Due to the constant load, the orbicularis muscle, which works during talking, eating and other actions, spasms. The peculiarity of its structure is that the bundles are woven into the skin, and not into the bones, which provokes the appearance of premature folds. - The corners of the lips droop.
This occurs due to structural changes in the skin of the lower face. In the epidermis, the content of collagen, elastin, some fats, and water - the main components of youth - is reduced. The skin loses elasticity, strength, and begins to sag. This gives the face a sad, tired look. - The upper lip lengthens.
Visually, the upper lip suffers more, as it no longer protrudes above the lower lip. There is a physiological explanation for this. Over the years, the skin of the upper lip stretches, becomes longer, and the distance between it and the nose increases. She closes her teeth tighter than before.
What is Botox
Botox is a drug containing botulinum toxin, the most powerful naturally occurring poison that works as a neurotoxin. It paralyzes nervous activity, or rather blocks the release of acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter responsible for neuromuscular transmission.
Humanity has mastered the release of botulinum toxin to use it as a bacteriological weapon. Then doctors began to use this poison to treat eye pathologies and various neurological disorders, including motor ones.
The ability of botulinum poison to paralyze muscles began to be exploited in cosmetology to combat wrinkles. By atrophying the target muscle, Botox creates the effect of smoothed skin while the poison is active. The principle is simple: the muscle does not contract - the skin does not fold. The appearance of smoothness lasts 2-5 months.
The problem of wrinkle formation with the help of Botox is not solved (the skin does not regain elasticity and strength, and the muscles do not regain healthy tone), but, on the contrary, is aggravated. A barbaric invasion of the natural configuration of the muscular system leads to transformations that accelerate age-related changes.
Why do Botox apply to lips?
Botox injections into the lip area are done for the following purposes:
- Correction of shape, including in cases of deformation and asymmetry of the lips.
- Smoothing purse-string wrinkles and marionette wrinkles.
- Raising the corners of the lips.
- Correction of a gummy smile (a smile in which the gums are exposed by more than 2-3 mm).
- Increased lip volume.
Do not confuse Botox with fillers (based on hyaluronic, polylactic acid, collagen)! Botox is injected into the muscle, depriving it of mobility, and fillers are injected into the skin, pumping up the lips. To increase the volume of the lips, fillers are often used, and with Botox, they are mainly used to correct their shape, lift the corners, and smooth out wrinkles.
Indications and contraindications
- horizontal and vertical wrinkles in the forehead;
- correction of eyebrow shape;
- "crow's feet" around the eyes;
- wrinkles under the lower eyelid;
- pronounced nasolabial folds;
- drooping tip of the nose;
- purse-string wrinkles around the lips;
- drooping corners of the mouth;
- asymmetrical and gummy smile;
- hypertonicity of the masticatory muscles, bruxism;
- correction of facial oval;
- neck rejuvenation;
- hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating)
- pronounced facial asymmetry;
- neuritis (inflammatory disease of peripheral nerves);
- period of pregnancy and lactation;
- diabetes;
- skin tendency to form keloid scars;
- individual intolerance to the components of the drug.
Temporary contraindications to the Botox injection procedure:
- exacerbation of herpes and other infectious diseases;
- cold with accompanying fever;
- taking certain medications (antibiotics, antidepressants);
- inflammation of the skin (ulcers, carbuncles);
- upcoming climate change (travel to a country with a hot climate).
Pros and cons of Botox for lips
Botox for lips has no advantages, since the entire visual effect of the procedure is only an appearance that is created for a short time and has a detrimental effect on the body. Botulinum toxin harms health, beauty, and youth.
The main disadvantages of Botox for lips are:
Impact on health
Many patients feel worse after Botox: headache, injection site, numb lips and neighboring areas. Temperature may rise, dizziness, vomiting, etc.
But this is just the tip of the iceberg. The main threat to health is that botulinum poison does not stay in the target muscle, but spreads to neighboring areas and, moreover, wanders throughout the body. Because of this, all sorts of complications arise, even life-threatening, and the long-term consequences have not even been studied by science. Proven side effects from Botox injections into the lip area are dysfunction and loss of speech, impaired swallowing, chewing, and increased salivation. Any interference with neurotransmitters has serious consequences for the function of the nervous system and can lead to long-term disruption of its functioning.
A blow to beauty
After Botox injections, bruises and ugly large hematomas appear, which can extend beyond the contours of the lips. Ugly side effects such as bumps, immobility of the upper lip, curvature of the mouth, facial asymmetry, and ugly duck lips are not uncommon. Surely, you have seen women whose lips half remained normal, and half were numb and hung down in such an immobilized state.
A victim of botulinum therapy often loses the ability to smile or does it asymmetrically, with only one corner of the lips. Lips affected by poison may convey a different emotion than the person is experiencing, for example, dissatisfaction instead of joy. Another common side effect is swelling and even severe allergic reactions.
A blow to youth
Botox does not eliminate, but accelerates age-related changes. The muscles affected by the poison will not fully recover, and the neighboring muscles, forced to work instead of them, become overstrained and spasm. There is a forced restructuring of the muscle tone of the face, which leads to the formation of new wrinkles, sagging skin, and the appearance of unevenness.
Detailed procedure
- Consultation with a cosmetologist to identify possible contraindications. In their absence, the doctor names the number of units of the drug required to effectively get rid of imperfections.
- The face is cleansed. Anesthesia is used if necessary. Typically, we give Botox injections without pain relief.
- Injection of the drug at certain points. The doctor distributes it evenly over the correction area. The procedure lasts no more than half an hour and is comfortable.
- You receive recommendations and leave the clinic.
A follow-up examination is scheduled two weeks after the injections. In some cases, additional correction may be required.
Usually after a couple of days the patient notices that the face has smoothed out and wrinkles have disappeared. Subsequently, the effect of the injections increases.
If you read reviews that Botox did not help with wrinkles on the forehead, consider a number of factors:
· the specialist could work with an uncertified drug;
· the patient could violate the doctor’s instructions during the rehabilitation period;
· a small percentage of people are resistant to botulinum therapy.
We pay great attention to the quality of drugs and the experience of doctors. The Medial Clinic cooperates only with trusted Botox suppliers, and all of our cosmetologists have been trained in the correction of facial wrinkles.
Why you shouldn't inject Botox on your lips
Botox does not solve the problem of age-related changes, but only temporarily creates the appearance of rejuvenation. When the effect of the drug wears off, age-related changes worsen. What does a woman do when she sees herself several years older in the mirror? He runs to the cosmetologist again. Only the dose of poison will now be greater.
And now the body is already beginning to get used to the action of botulinum toxin, its effectiveness decreases. What to do? Increase the dose again and go to the cosmetologist more and more often. Botox can be done once every three months. Just imagine, not once every year or two, but every season, poisoning yourself with poison! This is a vicious circle, from which most women who are hooked on the needle cannot escape.
And they are drawn into this process from a young age. Unsmart girls are told that Botox is necessary to prevent age-related changes. An unthinkable and destructive lie! Do you know what the lower age limit is for botulinum therapy? 18 years. No comments.
The risk of complications following the procedure is increased due to the fact that the industry employs many incompetent specialists. Techniques and dosages are violated. Often low-quality drugs are used and storage conditions are not observed.
Quite often women say that they did not like the result of the procedure. Cosmetologists invite such people in two weeks for correction, and these are new doses of poison. Many warn in advance that after the first visit a repeat visit will be required.
Which drug is more effective?
Let's compare the effectiveness of Botox and its analogue from South Korea.
Botox:
- Easily tolerated, complications are rare.
- Low effectiveness in eliminating deep wrinkles.
- The effect increases gradually from 2-3 days. Maximum result at the end of the second week.
- Frequent repeated injections form an addiction to the drug and reduce its effectiveness.
- The result lasts 6-8 months.
- Good lifting effect: the corners of the lips and brow ridges are raised.
- High price due to the popularity of the brand.
Botulax:
- Affordable price. Competitor in price even for domestic products.
- Peculiarities. The drug's production technology and components are similar to Botox.
- The duration of the effect is 4-6 months.
The general features of the drugs are targeted effects, preservation of natural facial expressions and gestures. The effect of the drugs does not extend to nearby tissues.
Preparations containing botulinum toxin
The word “Botox” is attached to all medications containing botulinum toxin. Although initially Botox was only a trademark. This is the name of the first drug based on botulinum poison, released by the American company Allergan.
Over time, the market of poisons for cosmetology has been replenished with new brands from different countries. They all contain the same active ingredient - botulinum toxin type A (BTA), once developed for military and sabotage purposes. The products differ in different concentrations of BTA, composition of excipients, particle size, duration of effect and a number of other parameters.
Botox
Botox is the first and most popular remedy among botulinum toxin-based drugs. Country of origin: USA. Used in Russia since 1994. This is a drug with a moderate concentration of poison and has a medium potency. Botox contains albumin and chloride - stabilizers whose task is to limit the spread of the toxin beyond the target muscle, but this does not mean that the spread of poison does not occur. It happens, with all the ensuing consequences. The effect of the drug is not quick compared to some of its followers: it appears on the 4-7th day and reaches a maximum after 2 weeks.
Dysport
Dysport is the main competitor of Botox. Country of origin: France. It differs from Botox in a significantly lower dosage of BTA, which is why the procedure requires more units of the drug. Dysport is significantly cheaper, but in terms of the amount of poison required for one procedure, its cost is comparable to Botox. Dysport is stronger and longer lasting than Botox because its particles are smaller and it contains less albumin, which is designed to stabilize the BTA molecules. Dysport has higher diffusion, that is, it spreads more under the skin where it shouldn’t, which is fraught with serious consequences. The initial effect occurs faster than Botox, 1-4 days after injections.
Botulax
Botulax is a drug produced in South Korea. By the way, South Korea is the country where the largest number of products containing botulinum toxin are produced. In addition to Botulax, these are also Neuronox, Meditoxin, Heutox. Botulax is positioned as a complete analogue of Botox in composition and characteristics, but only cheaper. There are opinions that Botulax acts shorter and causes discomfort.
Relatox
Relatox is a Russian drug that appeared in 2012. Cheaper than foreign brands. Relatox begins to work faster than Botox and its effects last longer. What explains this activity of Relatox? The fact that its particles are several times smaller: their molecular weight is 6 times lower than that of Botox. What does this mean? More active penetration into non-target muscles, which entails a lot of complications. Unlike Botox, Dysport and Botulax, Relatox does not contain albumin, a stabilizing protein that inhibits the diffusion of poison and softens its effect. There are reviews about the poor quality of this Russian drug and the pain of injections.
Xeomin
Xeomin is a German-made drug. More expensive than its competitors. This is explained by the fact that it contains botulinum toxin of the highest purity, so it works in a gentle manner. It starts to act a little faster than Botox and Dysport, but it also stops earlier. The molecular weight of Xeomin is very low, which indicates, on the one hand, a more uniform distribution of the drug, and on the other, its high ability to spread beyond the target muscle. However, the diffusion of Xeomin is inhibited by albumin, which it contains more than Botox.
Lantox
Cheap Botox option from China. Comparable to it in dosage and molecular weight, but does not contain albumin, which inhibits diffusion. Instead of albumin, which is a human immunoglobulin, Lantox contains gelatin of animal origin with a similar stabilizing task. The effect of Lantox is average in strength between Botox and Dysport.
Benefits of injections
| No pain, swelling, marks on the skin | Smooth skin without wrinkles, visible rejuvenation | Preservation of natural facial expressions |
| Quick results without surgery | No rehabilitation period | Long-term effect - about six months |
Features of the drugs
Botox injections are an affordable and painless way to get rid of facial wrinkles for a long time. In modern cosmetology, safe drugs are used, after which the risk of complications is practically eliminated. Many patients are interested in the question of how they differ.
Botox is manufactured by the American-French company Beaufour Ipsen International. "Xeomin" - German manufacturer Merz Aesthetics. They all differ in excipients and molecular weight, that is, their ability to penetrate tissue. The choice of drug should be made by a qualified physician.
How does the Botox lip procedure work?
The most common use of Botox for lips is to correct wrinkles. We will briefly and simply tell you how such injections are made.
- The procedure lasts 10-30 minutes.
- The cosmetologist marks the areas for injections, treats them with an antiseptic (sometimes also with anesthetic ointment) and makes injections. The final stage is a light massage of the lip area to evenly distribute the product.
- Injections are made along the contour in places with the greatest number of wrinkles. The distance between injections should not be more than 2-3 mm.
- Typically the lip area requires 5-15 units of botulinum toxin.
Preparation
Injections into the lips are done only as prescribed by a doctor. Therefore, at the first visit to the clinic, an anamnesis is drawn up and a conclusion is made. Once approval is received, tests are ordered. 2-3 days before the procedure, you should not drink alcohol, spicy or salty foods, or take medications from these groups.
All private clinics enter into an agreement for the provision of services. The cosmetologist will ask you to smile and express different facial expressions. This is done to determine which muscles are used the most.
Targeted Botox injections in the lip area
There are other, more specific options for using Botox in the lip area:
- gummy smile correction,
- raising the corners of the lips,
- increase in lip volume.
Let's look at them in more detail.
Correction of a gummy smile with Botox
A gummy smile is a special form of smile in which not only the teeth are visible, but also the gums. It confuses some women, especially if their teeth are far from ideal. The goal of correcting a gummy smile is to reduce the visualization of the gum so that 2-3 mm of it remains visible. How does Botox play into this? The cosmetologist marks two points on the corners of the lips and injects them. The poison enters the muscle that lifts the upper lip and the wing of the nose, and paralyzes it. The lip drops. True, the shape of the nose may also change after it: the tip will begin to “peck”.
Lifting the corners of the lips with Botox
A person has a muscle that extends down from the corner of the mouth. When she is very tense, she pulls the corner of her mouth behind her, which gives her an exhausted appearance.
Paralyzing this muscle with botulinum toxin temporarily creates the effect of raised corners of the mouth. But this is only an appearance. Search the Internet for reviews of women who have tried to solve this problem with Botox. Many people write that they have only made the situation worse.
As you age, your facial skin begins to sag. This is a natural process. Poison can only harm the target muscle and provoke spasms of neighboring muscles, which will be forced to work for it while it is immobilized. All this will cause more sagging of the skin and the appearance of wrinkles.
Lip plumping with Botox
Fillers are mainly used to enhance lips. You cannot “pump up” your lips with Botox, since this drug creates an effect by changing muscle tone. You can correct the contours of your lips and give them a fuller appearance, but this is not the main application of Botox. Typically, botulinum toxin is used in combination with hyaluronic acid fillers to enlarge lips.
There is an easy way to find out whether a person has had lip botox or not. If there was no intervention with poison, then he will easily curl his lips into a “tube”.
Cost of the procedure
One unit of Botox at the Medial clinic costs 380 rubles. We do not increase prices for botulinum therapy so that our patients can take care of their appearance on the most favorable terms. Below are approximate prices for Botox for forehead wrinkles:
| Region | Number of Botox units (estimated) | Price |
| Forehead | 5-25 pcs. | from 1,900 to 9,000 rubles. |
| Between the eyebrows | 15-35 pcs. | from 5,400 to 12,600 rubles. |
| Forehead + eyebrow | 20-40 pcs. | from 7,200 to 14,400 rubles. |
An analogue of Botox is Dysport. A unit of Dysport costs 95 rubles. Cost of correction with Dysport
| Region | Number of Dysport units (estimated) | Price |
| Forehead | 20-100 pcs. | from 1,900 to 9,500 rub. |
| Between the eyebrows | 60-140 pcs. | from 5,700 to 13,300 rubles. |
| Forehead + eyebrow | 80-160 pcs. | from 7,600 to 15,200 rub. |
Call to make an appointment for the procedure
Precautionary measures
Botox of the lips is contraindicated for those who have damaged skin, cracks, herpes, muscle weakness, as well as during pregnancy, lactation, infections and a number of diseases of the skin, blood, and endocrine system.
After the procedure, many restrictions are imposed. For the first six hours you can only stand and sit, it is forbidden to lie down. Until three weeks you should not tilt your head or do gymnastics. For half a month, exposure to sunlight and heat, such as baths and saunas, is prohibited. Water consumption is reduced to a minimum. There are other prohibitions.
