CONTRIBUTED CONTENT — Forget what you might have seen on TV. Botox isn’t just for the Hollywood elite and forty-somethings hoping to recapture the vitality of their youth.
Desert Sands Aesthetics & Laser offers preventative Botox injections for patients as young as their mid-20s to help create a fresh look and delay the appearance of aging. Owner Shannon Evans said Botox is like online dating: No one talks about it, but everyone’s doing it.
Inside the skin’s aging process
Evans strives to educate patients on how the muscles of the face move and cause wrinkles between the eyes, around the mouth and on the forehead. In youth, the skin is like a new piece of paper with no creases. When that paper is folded over and over again in one area, it develops lines and cracks.
These creases become more pronounced over time due to repetitive use of the facial muscles, sun damage and the collagen and elastin loss that occurs naturally with age. The average person loses collagen, one of the building blocks of healthy skin, at a rate of about 1% per year starting at age 25.
“As we get older, our skin begins to lose some of its vitality, becoming looser, wrinkled and less full than it once was,” Evans said. “This is because the skin has begun to break down faster than it can naturally rejuvenate.”
How Botox works
Botox is both a brand name and the most widely recognized generic term for botulinum toxin, a neuromodulator used to reduce facial muscle activity and ward off wrinkles and fine lines. Botox injections block the signal between the muscles and the brain, preventing contraction in a localized area.
Several different brands of botulinum toxin injections are currently approved by the Food and Drug Administration for various cosmetic and medical uses. Desert Sands offers Botox and Dysport to temporarily smooth the appearance of moderate to severe forehead lines, glabellar lines and crow’s feet. Results can last three to four months or sometimes longer, Evans said.
Botox first received FDA clearance in the early 2000s and is now ubiquitous for its ability to hold back the effects of time. A 2019 report by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons ranked Botox as the most common minimally-invasive cosmetic procedure in the United States, with over 7 million injections performed every year.
Debunking myths about Botox
When someone thinks of Botox, they might envision celebrities with overly tight skin and “frozen” smiles, but education and training in injections have come a long way, Evans said. Only the muscles that are injected will be affected, leaving normal facial expressions easily able to be conveyed.
“Not all faces are the same, so a thorough evaluation of muscle movement for each patient is imperative for a great result,” she added.
Evans said more people are beginning to understand how injections can help prevent lines before they get too deep. Along with eliminating wrinkles, Botox can also lift the eyebrows and make the eyes appear more open, resulting in a more relaxed and youthful look.
Botox as a preventative treatment
Evans said that more younger people are coming to Desert Sands for preventative Botox injections. These patients often express concern about constantly appearing tense due to the lines and wrinkles on their face – or worse, they look into the mirror and realize they’re turning into their parents.
“These creases make us look worried, angry, unapproachable and older,” she said. “The muscles that form these lines are involuntary, so we can’t consciously relax them to make the creases disappear.”
Experts agree that patients in their mid- to late-20s and early 30s are at a prime age for preventative Botox injections, Evans said. And Botox isn’t just for women anymore. “Brotox” is growing in popularity with men as well to help roll back the years.
Along with Botox injections, Evans and her team of skin care specialists offer combination laser therapy utilizing the latest in skin rejuvenation technology as well as fillers and medical services for both men and women, including facials, chemical peels, dermaplaning, micro-needling and more.
Desert Sands has been building up steam in the Southern Utah market in medical aesthetics since opening in September 2020. Evans, who worked as a registered nurse for over 25 years before training in injectables and laser aesthetics, takes pride in being able to offer cutting-edge skin care services in a welcoming environment where patient comfort and confidence is top priority.
“Everyone has different skin care concerns, because no one is the same,” she said. “I consider it an art.”
To schedule a consultation, visit the Desert Sands Aesthetics & Laser website or call 435-522-5190.
Written by ALEXA MORGAN for St. George News.
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- Desert Sands Aesthetics & Laser | Address: 346 E. 600 South, St. George | Telephone: 435-522-5190 | Website.
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