Do you kind of feel like every one of your friends and their mother and even their brothers are getting Botox injections? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to succumb to peer pressure. It’s not like I needed to get a Botox treatment in order to feel like I was part of the human race or something.

The thing is, I was curious. I have these frown lines that kind of make me look unnecessarily angry or upset even when I’m not and my face is at rest, and I knew that Botox could do just the trick to soften my face up and erase a few other sneaky lines that are starting to feel pretty unwelcome.

Botox is also one of those treatments that’s been on the market for decades and there’s a ton of medical and scientific research backing up its benefits, but most importantly its safety and effectiveness. So yeah, I was curious, especially after observing some of my friends’ stellar results.

The thing that was keeping me away from taking the plunge and booking a Botox treatment is that I was, quite simply, a little (maybe a lot) terrified. I’m not someone who generally feels comfortable with people, no matter how skilled they may be, touching my face. So the thought of getting poked in the face with needles with something that weakens facial muscles sounded a little insane to me.

I did eventually face my fears and bit the bullet, and I am really happy with my results. Why didn’t I do this sooner?? So if you feel like I once did, here are 5 things I wish I knew before my Botox treatment that would have made the decision to go for it so much easier.

1. That Botox injections don’t hurt.

Like I said, I’m not a huge fan of people touching my face, and even less of a fan of needles—tbh I’m scared of needles. So basically before I went to my first Botox treatment, I assumed I would totally freak out or pass out, or just run out of there screaming lol.

But if you’ve got needle phobia like me, please know that these needles are small, like super super small, and you really don’t experience any pain from them. It’s really just a series of quick little pokes and you’re done. And closing your eyes helps a lot too 😊

2. That the treatment was super fast.

Also, the poking part of the treatment was literally no more than 10 minutes. We spent way more time talking about my goals and making sure we were on the same page and I was really informed about what was about to go down. My injector just asked me to make specific facial expressions, like frown or squint at appropriate moments, so that she’d be sure to locate the target muscles. But it was literally so fast, and I was on my way in no time.

3. That I would need a two week Botox touch up.

Ok, so actually what I didn’t realize, but am in retrospect super grateful for, was that especially when you’re a Botox newbie like I am, at MD Beauty Clinic the injectors take the conservative approach of under dosing.

One of my fears, and probably a pretty common one, was getting that unfortunate frozen look where you really can’t move your face. I don’t know if I was more afraid of what that would look like or how it would feel not to be able to move certain muscles in my face. Seems kind of scary, right?

Well my lovely nurse injector at MDBC immediately put me at ease and let me know that we were going start slow and steady for the first session, meaning that I got a smaller dose for the first treatment to see how my muscles would react, and was booked in for a touch up two weeks later to tweak my result depending on how I was feeling once it had settled in. That was a huge relief for me.

4. That I would like it best about 6 weeks following my treatment.

Ok, so following your treatment, Botox generally takes full effect at about two weeks and sometimes it can feel a little stiff at this point. Some of my friends have told me that they love this more intense feeling but personally I preferred how I felt around the 6 week mark, when I felt comfortable and could see that it was working how I wanted, but I really didn’t think about it or notice it.

This info is useful for me in the future, too, because the next time I have a major event coming up, I can plan my appointment 6 weeks out so that I know I’ll look and feel my best right when I need it most.

5. That Botox fades away slowly over the course of 3-4 months.

When I was thinking about first getting a Botox treatment, I thought to myself, why put yourself through torture for something that’s going to go away so quickly? It’ll probably last like a couple of weeks and then suddenly disappear. That’s actually not true. Botox fades slowly over 3-4 months, and you can either let it fade away completely if it wasn’t the right fit, or get another treatment at the 3 month mark to maintain your results.

And rest assured, if you’re hesitant about getting a Botox treatment like I was, your face will go back to exactly the way it was before after 3 to 4 months, in case you were to feel like the treatment wasn’t for you. You won’t stay frozen forever 😉

But for me, personally? It took care of all the little things that had been bugging me for quite some time and no one could tell that I had anything done (my boss even asked me if I had done something with my hair, which is always the best sign that a difference is noticeable without being obvious). I’m really into my result and will be going back to my same injector since she now knows how my facial anatomy reacts to the injections, meaning my future results are only going to be more fine-tuned from here.

My only regret is not taking the plunge sooner!