“I confess – my wife dragged me to my first BOTOX appointment,” laughs Dean, a 44-year-old realtor from Vadnais Heights, Minnesota. “The thing is though, I loved the results so much that I ended up booking out my treatments every three months from that point on,” he continues. “I know to talk about wrinkles and BOTOX isn’t really normal locker room talk for guys, but having fewer lines on my forehead and around my eyes just makes me feel better. I kinda wish guys would talk about this stuff more because it really does make a big difference in how young my skin looks and it’s easy!”
Men like Dean are not alone in their pursuit of esthetic treatments that turn back the clock on aging. According to the American Society for Esthetic Plastic Surgery, 435,281 men were treated with neurotoxin muscle relaxers in 2016 alone. An additional study shows a 337 percent increase in the number of men receiving cosmetic injectables since the year 2000!
“The real estate industry is competitive in the Minneapolis area,” says Dean. “I meet with tons of clients each week and how I present myself is part of my brand,” he goes on. “With energetic, younger realtors entering the market every day I wanted to make sure I had the competitive edge of looking and feeling my best,” explains Dean. “I work out at the gym every day, and I now consider getting my quarterly BOTOX as the same kind of maintenance for my overall health and appearance.”
Imagine you are squinting your eyes to read a small line of text. Do you feel how your eyebrows came together and furrowed to form a deep groove between them? Now relax your face and look in the mirror. Are lines still present between your brows at rest? If so, you have experienced collagen and elastin breakdown in the skin that lies over those muscles, aka, a wrinkle. BOTOX works by softening the underlying contraction of muscles so they can’t form a crease in the skin. It does it by blocking the communication between the nerves on your muscles that assist in contraction and your brain. Results last up to four months, and with repeated treatments, current wrinkles aren’t just smoothed, future ones can be prevented!
What should guys expect with a BOTOX treatment?
Men and women’s skin and facial muscle structure are different. Men have thicker skin, and stronger muscles, so more units of BOTOX may be required to achieve the same results as their female counterparts. For example, the furrow between your eyebrows usually requires 20-24 units of BOTOX for women but may take up to 30 or more units for men to achieve the same smoothing effects.
We know that the idea of a needle coming at your face isn’t the most pleasant picture, but the truth is that the needle used to inject BOTOX is very tiny, so much so that many men don’t even feel the injection. Immediately after your treatment, you may experience slight swelling and redness that last up to an hour. Your injector will advise you not to press on the area or go to the gym for 24 hours after treatment. Over the next two weeks, you’ll notice that it becomes harder and harder to contract the muscles in the area that was treated. Your full smoothing effect should set in within 10-14 days.
Will Botox make me look feminine?
The short answer is NO. But, your results with BOTOX are heavily dependent upon the skill and experience of your provider. You’ll want to make sure that your injector has experience with treating men with BOTOX.
“I think a lot of men are reticent to try BOTOX at first because they think it will somehow feminize their features,” explains Dr. Christopher Tolan, a board-certified facial plastic surgeon with Midwest Facial Plastic Surgery. “Mainstream media tends to emphasize the bad BOTOX and injectable treatments that are performed on celebrities,” he continues, “but the truth is, most of the male celebrities you see out there are being treated with BOTOX-it’s just great work that doesn’t get noticed.”
“A man is generally not looking to lift the arch in his eyebrow or achieve a subtle flip to his upper lip with Botox,” says Dr. Tolan smiling. “With men’s BOTOX treatments, our goal is to smooth lines and wrinkles while maintaining the character, angles, and masculinity of his features. We want you to look refreshed, youthful, and attractive, not like a different person.”
Are you a man who has been considering BOTOX? The more you know about BOTOX, the more empowered you’ll feel to make the decision that’s right for you. Schedule a consultation with Dr. Christopher Tolan or Dr. Garrett Griffin by calling (651) 632-9700.