If you’re a client of ours or an avid reader of our blog, or both, then you know that at MD Beauty Clinic we’re big fans of Botox. Don’t get us wrong, we don’t think everyone should get or needs to get Botox. We’re firm believers of the “you do you” motto, and there is no one size fits all treatment. Our job is to find the one that’s best for you.
The reason we’re fans of Botox is because it’s super versatile and does suit a lot of people, and the science behind its anti-aging capabilities is solid—not to mention its medical advantages for certain conditions like chronic migraines, hyperhidrosis (excessive sweating), and Bell’s Palsy.
Botox has been approved for cosmetic use by the FDA since 2002, and since that time, we’ve really seen the incredible impact it’s had, especially for long-time users, on staving off creases and wrinkles that tend to age our faces prematurely.
But for all the science and information that’s available online about Botox, we’ve found that many patients, including those who are new to the treatment and those who’ve been getting it for a long time, are sometimes still unclear as to whether they should let their Botox completely wear off or not before coming in for a subsequent treatment.
Our answer to this is, typically no, but that it also really depends.
When Should I Expect My Botox to Wear Off?
So the general rule of the thumb is that, Botox, no matter how many units you have injected will last anywhere from 3-4 months, and this is pretty much the same for all neuromodulators whether you’re getting Botox, Dysport, Xeomin, or Nuceiva.
Our recommendation is that as soon as you feel that your Botox is wearing off—when you’re getting movement back and seeing those lines reappear, for most people around the 3 month mark—you should come in for another treatment if you’d like to maintain your original result.
There are a number of reasons and advantages for this.
First off, if you were happy with your original result, the best way to maintain that result is to re-treat the area just before your Botox wears off. If you let your Botox wear off completely before your next treatment your injector will basically have to start from scratch. And although a good injector will be able to replicate your previous result, this will guarantee that your injector can work with what you’ve already got if you love your result and there won’t be a lot of need for correction.
The other advantage of not letting your Botox completely wear off is that you’ll probably need fewer units for your subsequent treatments, since you’ll already have a baseline to work with, meaning that your next treatments will likely be less expensive. This is why we also recommend that you choose an experienced injector that you like and go back to them, because they’ll know how many units they injected previously and know how many you’ll likely need next time to avoid a frozen or unnatural look.
How to Make the Effects of Botox Last Longer
Not letting your Botox completely wear off will also prevent any new lines and wrinkles from forming. So if you want to see any permanent and long lasting effects of your Botox treatments, you’ll want to take this approach.
We’ve found that our patients that are treated this way have fewer and fewer wrinkles as they come back for treatments and also succeed at weakening the muscles that cause the wrinkles and creases in the first place, meaning that they need fewer units of Botox and can eventually also schedule their appointments at longer intervals.
There has also been research done that suggests that when neuromodulators weaken or diminish the capacity for your muscles to be overly expressive, they also “retrain” the muscles to do this less intensely when the product begins to wear off.
So basically what we’re saying is that if you’re looking to take a more permanent approach when it comes to diminishing your fine lines and wrinkles, not letting your Botox wear off completely is a great way to go.
Keep in mind that it’s a fine balance, though. You don’t want to come in for your next appointment too soon, either, because you risk getting more than you need, which is why we generally recommend coming back at the 3 month mark.
Why Some People Choose to Let Botox Wear Off Completely
There are also instances in which you may want your Botox to wear off and that’s also totally fine.
Good reasons for having your Botox wear off completely: you may not be happy with your result, or you might not like how it feels. Let it wear off and in approximately four months everything will go back to how it looked before you had Botox.
You may also just want a different look next time, or to target a different area. Or it may just be a personal preference. We see many long-time Botox patients who like to let their Botox completely wear off before their next treatment and there’s nothing that says you can’t.
If you’re still unsure about how to schedule your Botox treatments, come chat with us, and we can come up with an individualized treatment plan just for you.
