Top Botox® Mistakes to Avoid: What New Injectors Need to Know
New to injecting Botox®? This guide walks you through the most common mistakes—and how to avoid them—so you can deliver safe, natural-looking results your patients will love.
According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the #1 most common cosmetic complaint patients have is wrinkles.
Approved for wrinkle treatment in 2002 and more recently for crow’s feet by the FDA, nothing smooths out fine lines and wrinkles quicker than Botox Cosmetic®.
Your aesthetic patients already know this. Your medical patients, on the other hand, may be skeptical if it is suggested as a treatment for their condition.
Here are 5 of the most popular cosmetic and medical benefits of Botox® injections. Use this as a quick and easy way to explain these procedures to your patients.
The best way to explain Botox® (botulinum toxin) to your patients is this: “Botox® works as a shield between the brain and the muscle. Even if your brain is telling a muscle to move–whether this is on purpose or because of misfiring neurons– Botox Cosmetic® (FDA Approved) will tell the muscle to stay still.”
Next, outline some of the ways that relaxing muscles can help in both cosmetic and medical patients.
Here are some good examples to use:
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Also called “Brow Ptosis,” drooping brow can cause patients to look unhappy and tired even when they are feeling awake and happy.
In some instances there are biological reasons for the droop. You might advise your patients to eat more vegetables, exercise their facial muscles, etc.
Many times, intervention is needed. Administering Botox® results in the relaxing of the brow muscles and, when administered correctly, can keep them aloft.
“Hyperhidrosis” is defined by the National Library of Medicine as “a medical condition in which a person sweats excessively and unpredictably.
People with hyperhidrosis may sweat even when the temperature is cool or when they are at rest.”
Your patients probably won’t care about this. They’ll likely just want to stop sweating so much.
Explain that, just like Botox® (botulinum toxin) can prevent directions given by the brain from reaching the intended muscle, it can also act as a shield for sweat glands.
It is particularly helpful for excessive localized sweating in the patient’s armpits, feet or hands.
Make sure to tell them that they’ll need to repeat the procedure every few months.
But the smart money says they’ll choose the treatment over the skin conditions they risk developing from having to walk around in damp clothing and shoes all day.
This free training resource contains:
Many of your practice’s migraine patients will have probably read up on the use of Botox® as a treatment for their condition.
This means that you won’t have to do much convincing with them, but you will have to manage expectations.
Many chronic migraine sufferers make the mistake of thinking that the drug stops the migraine itself.
It doesn’t.
It will, however, reduce many of their major symptoms like sensitivity to light and nausea, making the migraine easier to deal with.
You have two choices for administering Botox® (botulinum toxin) to your Bells Palsy patients. Here is how you can explain each of those choices to your patients:
Administering the treatment to the paralyzed side of the patient’s face–this can help relax facial muscles that might have tightened up and become painful. It can also prevent unwanted facial tics.
Administering the treatment to the non-paralyzed side of the patient’s face–this Botox® benefit is more cosmetic in nature.
This technique can help relax the movements on the dominant side of the face.
This helps give the face a more balanced look even when the patient is talking or moving their face a lot.
If your patient is willing to come into your practice over an eye twitch, it’s safe to think that the twitch is more than a temporary annoyance.
Sometimes the twitching will be rapid and/or constant. Other times the twitch can cause a permanent spasm of the muscle, holding it in a tense position for a prolonged period of time.
In addition to being annoying and sometimes painful, these twitches can also interfere with the patient’s vision.
A simple explanation of how Botox® works (covered above) is often all you need here.
The IAPAM’s list of common and uncommon side effects of Botox® physicians need to be aware of include:
The IAPAM also tells its members that the best way to prevent these side effects is to have a thorough knowledge of the facial muscles and their behaviors, to err on the side of caution, and to practice and master the basics before administering any procedures.
This is where all the time you spent perfecting your bedside manner will come in handy.
Talk over side effect fears with each patient and, if necessary, demonstrate your knowledge and skill with the procedure with saline and an inanimate test subject.
For some patients, the knowledge that your hands are steady will go a long way!
Knowing how to teach your patients about the benefits of Botox® will help alleviate their fears and preconceived ideas (thanks, Internet!) about what the treatment is for, how it works, and how it is administered.
Hopefully, what we’ve shared here will help you do exactly that.
New to injecting Botox®? This guide walks you through the most common mistakes—and how to avoid them—so you can deliver safe, natural-looking results your patients will love.
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