Today’s beauty and cosmetics world is filled with innovations and ways to stay young and beautiful. Aging is natural but aging gracefully is today’s trend and it’s here to stay. Two ways you can achieve this are with Botox and Microcurrent treatments.
Botox is an injectable treatment that blocks certain nerve signals, preventing contraction or tensing up of the target facial muscles. It smooths out fine lines and wrinkles. Microcurrent is a non-invasive anti-aging treatment that uses low-level electrical currents. This trains and works out facial muscles to boost collagen and elastin production.
These cosmetic treatments aren’t for everyone, of course. Some would prefer other methods while some rely solely on an anti-aging skincare regimen than works for them.
In this article, we’ll go over what Botox and Microcurrent are and how both are similar and different. We’ll also go over each option’s pros and cons to help you decide which way to go.
Botox vs Microcurrent
In today’s day and age, we never stop looking for and trying out different skincare products and cosmetic treatments to achieve and maintain youthful and glowing skin.
For that youthful skin and glow, the two go-to’s of many consumers are Botox and Microcurrent treatments.
What is Botox?
Botox is a specific brand of botulinum toxin for injection. Botulinum toxin is a type of neurotoxin that, when injected, can affect the nerves of the treatment area and therefore cause the weakening of the muscles.
Botox is often injected in different areas of the face to smooth out wrinkles, revealing a more youthful look.
Some of the most common areas where Botox is injected include the brow furrow, forehead, eye area, and around the lips.
Other than cosmetic benefits, Botox is also widely used to treat other medical concerns like migraines, neck spasms, lazy eyes, and overactive bladders.
How does it work?
Botox is injected into the area of concern.
When injected, it will block chemical signals from nerves that will stop the target muscles from contracting or tensing up. This process will relax the target facial muscles, effectively smoothing out wrinkles, frown lines, crow’s feet, and other facial wrinkles.
Effects from a single Botox injection can last up to several months. Several areas can also be treated in one session.
What are the Benefits of Botox?
- Eases facial wrinkles
Botox injections block nerve signals, temporarily paralyzing and preventing facial muscles from contracting. This relaxes the treated areas and smooths out fine lines and wrinkles.
Forehead wrinkles, frown lines, crow’s feet, and lip lines are some of the most common Botox treatment areas.
- Pain management
Botox comes highly recommended by many health professionals when the concern is pain and managing varying degrees of it.
Because Botox helps to block nerve signals that cause muscle contraction and activity, it relaxes the muscles and target area instead. This can lead to effective pain relief and management.
Those who experience neck pain, back pain, nerve pain, pelvic pain, joint pain, neuropathy, sciatica pain, and osteoarthritis, among others, can obtain relief.
- Eases symptoms of various medical conditions
Botox injections don’t only help patients with cosmetic benefits. A shot of Botox can also help ease symptoms of various medical conditions including:
- Neck and muscles spasms
- Eye twitching
- Lazy eyes
- Excessive sweating
- Migraines and headaches
- Overactive bladder
Is Botox Safe?
Botox is a prescription medicine and is generally considered safe when it’s administered by a medical provider with an approved license.
Before going ahead with Botox treatments, consult and talk with your doctor first to see if the procedure will help you achieve your needs.
What are the Side Effects of Botox?
There are still some possible side effects you should know about before proceeding.
- Pain, swelling, redness, or bruising
- Allergic reactions like rashes or itching
- Headache or dizziness
- Flu-like symptoms
- Shortness of breath and breathing problems
- Irritated, red, and watery or dry eyes
- Upset stomach and indigestion
- Temporary droopy eyelids pr crooked eyebrows
- Temporary crooked smile
Though rare, there is also the risk of the injected medicine spreading to other parts of the body where it isn’t supposed to go. To prevent this, the patient should stay upright and not lie down for two to three hours after the treatment.
Who Shouldn’t Get Botox?
Healthcare providers generally don’t recommend getting Botox treatments for patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Make sure to consult with your clinic and doctor first before proceeding with the procedure.
How Many Botox Treatments Do I Need?
To maintain long-lasting results, a patient would need regular follow-up injections and sessions. It’s generally recommended to have these follow-ups at least three months apart.
When can I start seeing results?
After three to four days, patients can already start seeing results. Expect full results to set in within ten to 14 days.
How long do results last?
Botox results are only temporary and not permanent. They will start wearing off within three to six months. To maintain results and effects, follow-up injections within a three-month period are recommended.
What is Microcurrent?
Microcurrent is a non-invasive, non-surgical, and painless anti-aging treatment that uses low-level electric currents, similar to those naturally occurring in our bodies.
What Microcurrent does is re-train and re-educate the skin’s muscles. Think of it as going to the gym for the skin. Like going to the gym for the body, it trains the muscles and works on your muscle tone.
Microcurrent therapy reveals tighter, firmer, plumper, and younger-looking skin. This boosts the body’s collagen development and elastin production, resulting in youthful skin and an improvement in the skin’s radiance.
How does it work?
Microcurrent uses a handheld device with two electrodes or prongs on one end. This Microcurrent device delivers the sub-level electric current deep within the face’s muscles.
The treatment works by assisting the body to produce ATP, or adenosine triphosphate, the body’s main fuel and energy source. In turn, this stimulates the body’s natural function of producing both collagen and elastin, both of which the skin needs for structure.
Where there is structure, the skin tends to have fewer signs of aging like fine lines and wrinkles. The skin will also sag or droop less, resulting in youthful, firmer, and plumper skin.
What are the Benefits of Microcurrent Treatment?
- Boosts collagen and elastin production
Microcurrent treatments help stimulate the skin’s collagen and elastin production. Both these naturally-occurring proteins give the skin structure. More of it means youthful-looking skin with far fewer wrinkles and other signs of aging.
- Tones and sculpts skin and facial muscles
Microcurrent is a “workout” for your skin. And just like working out your body in the gym, this skin workout tones and sculpts skin, revealing sculpted, lifted, and firmer skin.
- Improves blood circulation
By stimulating facial muscles and other target areas, Microcurrent treatments also improve blood circulation. Improved blood circulation means bringing necessary oxygen, blood, and nutrients to the treatment area. This speeds up wound healing and cellular activity.
Are Microcurrent Facials Safe?
Microcurrent facial treatments are a non-invasive, non-surgical, and painless cosmetic procedure. It requires no aesthetics of any sort and has little to no downtime.
What are the Side Effects of Microcurrent?
Microcurrent technology has very few risks for side effects, however, do keep an eye on any of the following:
- Slight tingly sensation or some numbing
- Some redness or bruising
- Some swelling
- General discomfort
- Headache or dizziness
These side effects, should they occur, are mostly mild and only temporary. They should go away on their own a few hours after the treatment.
Who Shouldn’t Get Microcurrent?
Though generally safe and non-invasive, patients who fit in any of the categories below should think twice before getting the treatment:
- Pregnant women
- Nursing mothers
- Patients with epilepsy
- Patients with heart conditions
- Patients with pacemakers and other metal implants
How Many Microcurrent Treatments Do I Need?
Microcurrent results are cumulative. Results will keep adding up the more treatment sessions you do.
For the best results, it’s generally recommended to have treatment sessions spaced out with one to two weeks in between.
How many sessions you would need would still depend on how your initial consultation goes.
When can I start seeing results?
Microcurrent results are almost instantaneous. You can immediately see a difference right after just one session.
Results reach their peak approximately on the third day after the treatment.
How long do results last?
Results can last around three to six weeks. You can achieve long-term results with regular and consistent appointments.
Is Microcurrent Better Than Botox?
Botox is one of the most common, popular, and classic many patients turn to achieve youthful-looking skin for much longer.
On the other hand, Microcurrent is gaining popularity due to its comparable results to Botox in a non-invasive procedure.
While both cosmetic treatments are great anti-aging procedures, it’s important to note that Botox is an injectable while Microcurrent is non-surgical.
With Botox, there is a risk of muscular atrophy, when done too often. This causes the facial muscles to become slack because they’ve been paralyzed and have gone unused for too long.
Muscular atrophy can cause your facial features to look unnatural, along with changes in your skin’s texture and color.
With Microcurrent, there is no such risk. Instead, it stimulates your body’s natural processes and improves your skin through only natural means.
Remember, Botox stops and relaxes the contraction of facial muscles while Microcurrent generates controlled facial muscle movements to work them out.
Can Microcurrent Replace Botox?
When done correctly and consistently, many professionals believe that the non-invasive Microcurrent procedure can replicate Botox results and eventually replace the injectable procedure.
Of course, this could still vary depending on the kinds of lines and wrinkles you have. If you’re interested in other therapies besides botox, you might want to consider microneedling.
Can I Use Botox and Microcurrent Together?
The short answer is yes, you can use Botox and Microcurrent together!
If you’re not one to shy away from trying out different treatments and procedures in the name of beauty, here are some guidelines if you’re thinking of doing both procedures:
- Get Microcurrent treatment first before a Botox injection. This can help bring life and movement back to frozen facial muscles.
- Never do Botox first then Microcurrent second. Remember, Botox freezes facial muscles while Microcurrent works them out. Going Botox first then Microcurrent second will undo all the work of the Botox injection.
- Botox is great at targeting smaller areas while Microcurrent does well if target areas are relatively large. Turn to Microcurrent for larger areas that Botox can’t fix.
- If you’ve been relying on Botox for quite some time and would like to avoid it altogether, Microcurrent might provide an effective alternative. With some patience, it can help reactivate and wake up facial muscles that Botox has since then frozen and paralyzed.
Conclusion
Who wouldn’t want to stay young for longer, right? With all the innovations the cosmetics world has come up with, this isn’t a faraway dream anymore. Two popular methods to achieve youthful skin are Botox and Microcurrent.
Botox is an injectable treatment that stops nerve signals, preventing the contraction and movement of facial muscles. This relaxes the muscles and smooths out facial wrinkles. Microcurrent is a non-invasive treatment that works out the facial muscles, boosting collagen and elastin production. This eases fine lines and wrinkles as well.
And that has been our detailed guide on the query, Botox vs Microcurrent. Reach out to us below if you have more questions for us!