As part of our 5 Critical Steps to Great Looking Skin Series, Conrad Bosmans interviews Dr. Arian Mowlavi of Cosmetic Plastic Surgery Institute about the best ways to erase unsightly facial wrinkles.

Q: What causes facial wrinkles?

Dr. Mowlavi: Facial wrinkles are skin creases, ridges, and folds that get imprinted in our skin through years of expression and communication. When the underlying muscles contract, they crease the overlying skin.

However, when the outer layer of skin thickens, the inner layer of skin thins, and both layers stiffen, as a result of sun damage, the wrinkles become deeply inset and eventually…unappealing.

This doesn’t mean wrinkles are all bad…because they also portray our feelings and personality. Which is critical. Nobody really wants to look like a “Stepford Wife” or a robot.

Q: How can people erase wrinkles in a natural-looking way?

Dr. Mowlavi: There are a few strategic wrinkles that we can safely erase to look more attractive, and more youthful without looking like a robot.

We like to focus on the frown lines between our eyebrows, that can look an “11”.

Then, we’ll move to the horizontal lines across our foreheads, followed by the wrinkles (or crows feet) around our eyes.

The muscles in these areas can be effectively paralyzed without inhibiting your natural expressions using Botulinum toxin injection…otherwise known as Botox.

Botulinum toxin, is a natural chemical that temporarily paralyzes a muscle when it is injected into the motor end-plate. The motor end plate is the region where the nerve ends at the muscle and tells it to contract. When we inject it there, the botox is taken up by the nerve ending and it prevents the nerve from transferring its message to activate the muscle. 

After your injection, you can expect 6 months of wrinkle free living and the compliments that go with it. 

Botox injections are a safe, effective, and an easy means of keeping the frown wrinkles, forehead wrinkles, and eyelid wrinkles at bay. The best regimen includes treatments only twice a year by a qualified and experienced plastic surgeon. Regularly scheduled Botox injections reduce those undesired wrinkles and help avoid invasive surgical measures.

Click here for more information on erasing wrinkles with Botox. 

(In our next installment, Dr. Mowlavi shares How To Remove Sun Spots and Blemishes)