Not a day goes by that I don’t get asked about the difference between Botox and Fillers. So, let me take this opportunity to clear things up for everyone who is also wondering. The basic difference is that Botox works with “muscular movement” whereas cosmetic fillers work by “adding back volume or support underneath the skin” and “in the skin.”
To keep it simple, Botox relaxes the muscles that cause wrinkle lines–it simply blocks the muscles that cause the skin to wrinkle. Botox is mainly used to treat the lines near and between the eye area–like “11” lines between your eyes and “crows feet” on the sides of your eyes. If a wrinkle around the eye gets worse with muscle movement such as squinting it may be better treated with Botox.
Cosmetic dermal fillers, such as Juvederm, Radiesse and Voluma, to name a few, are different than Botox. Fillers are used if a wrinkle is always present, with both rest and movement, there is sagging skin, or if there is a loss in the shape of the face with age. A sagging mid-face or deep nasolabial folds near the mouth area are good examples of when fillers are typically used. Rather than to relax muscles, dermal fillers are injected under the skin’s surface to fill lost tissue, thus adding back the volume you once had at a younger time in your life. If a wrinkle is always present with movement and rest, then fillers may be a better choice.
These treatments are safe and virtually painless. They can be done in one lunchtime appointment. I would suggest that you visit a physician who specializes in only these treatments for a consultation. Depending on your condition, the best results may in fact be combination of both Botox and cosmetic fillers.
