A Wrinkle in Time
How today’s Chicago women are aging gracefully and, yeah, looking at least a decade younger.
We battle the signs of aging…with help from the needle, thanks to technology and the skill of a physician. Something new is always coming to market and the current advice is to prevent wrinkles and other age enhancers by acting early. Two local experts weigh in on techniques, advances and results.
BABES IN BOTOX
Preventative injectables have become very popular among 20-somethings. Shay Moinuddin, MHA, RN, practice manager at The Few Institute, says, “Botox relaxes muscle movement and actually prevents wrinkles from forming.” But she’s quick to point out a big mistake a lot of women make: “Many wait for wrinkles to form and then ask for Botox. But it won’t do much when you have deep-set wrinkles. If you start early, you don’t need to get it often, maybe three or four times a year.”
Robin Filer, cosmetic coordinator at Pinski Dermatology & Cosmetic Surgery, S.C., says women ages 25 to 30 should consider Botox because “expression lines will become wrinkles.” And for those under 25? “You don’t need injections…you’re just wasting your money,” Ms. Moinuddin says candidly.
WHEN LESS IS MORE
We’ve all recoiled at the frozen face on a woman of a certain age who shows no signs of emotion. Is she happy, sad or mad? You can’t tell because her immobile face simply can’t register emotion. Should she have stopped getting injections at some point in time?
“An older woman who’s just started getting injections needs more filler to get the same result as a woman 30 years younger,” explains Ms. Filer. “But I don’t think there’s a point when a woman is ‘too old.’ And it’s important that these women have realistic expectations for the kind of results they’re going to get.”
Fillers are meant for people who experience volume loss in their cheeks, midface or lips. But according to most skin pros, less is more. For example, Ms. Moinuddin doesn’t take issue with too much Botox, but says there’s absolutely a cosmetic problem with too much filler.
The more you stretch the skin in an unnatural way, it continues to be puffed out and depleted and puffed out again,” she explains. “When you’re over-filled, your face will stay that way for quite some time.
Some fillers like Juvéderm have a remedy. If someone is overfilled and hates the way it looks, there’s an injection that melts the Juvéderm away. But with other fillers like Sculptra, once you inject it, your face looks like that for a while.”
In the end, Ms. Moinuddin observes that women opt for cosmetic injections because “everyone wants to look good. Women use the tools we have now not to halt the aging process, but soften it. The goal isn’t to look younger…just refreshed.”