recent studies show that a combination treatment of botox and fillers works better than either treatment alone. botox and fillers such as restylane perlane prevelle juvederm and radiesse perform differently. botox paralyzes the underlying facial muscle while fillers plump the skin and smooth out fine lines and wrinkles. young people with only superficial lines may just need mainly botox. but botox is not going to make deep forehead furrows or marionette lines(the vertical creases that run from mouth to chin) disappear – for that people need fillers. the problem with fillers is that sooner or later they break down and are absorbed by the body. the more animated and active the face the faster the filler will break down. prevelle one of the lighter fillers lasts about four months while perlane and juvederm ultra plus last about eight months to a year. however the duration of any filler will significantly increase if botox shots are given first in the same sitting. for the forehead for example i inject botox into the lines followed immediately by fillers. instead of the usual five to six months with a smooth forehead if a filler alone is used the combination treatment will last nine to ten months. and the forehead will look a whole lot better during that time because the etched-in lines will be smoothed away. botox and fillers can even be used around the mouth which is where fillers break down fastest. think about it: your mouth is in constant movement every waking moment and the more movement there is the faster the filler will break down. botox should never be injected into the smile lines but diluted botox shots can be used successfully with fillers on the lips and the corners of the mouth on most people. there are exceptions though: people who need extremely mobile lips for their professions such as singers or horn players should never get botox near their mouths although they can have fillers.
do fillers work better when used in conjunction with botox?