Who is a good candidate and who is not a good candidate for Botox?
A good candidate is someone who has furrow lines between the eyes, horizontal forehead lines across the forehead, crow's feet around the eyes or some bands under the neck. Poor candidates are those who have lines on the upper lip or on the cheeks. Botox would also not help someone who has significant sagging of the skin. In terms of safety, it would not be appropriate to use Botox in people with neurological diseases.
What are the risks?
The risks of Botox, when administered properly and when using the appropriate substance, are very small. The most significant risk is a temporary drooping of the eyelids. It usually doesn't last very long and isn’t common. It occurs in less than 2 percent of patients and, oftentimes, it's very subtle. You can get some bruising from the procedure or some asymmetry, but much of this can be corrected with subsequent treatments.
What are filler substances used for?
Filler substances are used to help plump up the cheeks, to add to the chin and to improve scars. In the past, doctors used collagen and collagen-like material, such as CosmoDerm and CosmoPlast.
Recently there has been an explosion of new filler substances that have come onto the marketplace, such as new hyaluronic acids, including Restylane and Hylaform, and Radience, which is a calcium hydroxyapatite material.
