Mark Twain quoted “Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.” In essence, he was referring to the fine lines around the eyes. These fine lines are Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been quite different then the “frown” lines between our eyes that usually show up when we have a negative emotion. The crow’s feet can scrunch up in disgust, anger, or happiness when we smile. As we age, crow’s feet show up on everyone’s face. Preventing crow’s feet is impossible. A patient would need to never laugh, smile, squint, or frown.
The most common causes of crow’s feet are a loss of skin elasticity and collagen as we age, in addition to sun exposure. As we age, our skin loses elasticity because of a decease in elastin and collagen production. Unlike other wrinkles, crow’s feet can show up in our mid twenties and even earlier for people that do not practice good skincare
Botox® for crow’s feet relaxes the muscles that surround the corners of the eyes which smooth out the skin and ultimately makes patients eyes more beautiful, especially in days of constant mask wearing. The treatment takes less than 5 minutes and works on the orbicularis oculi muscle. The OO muscle surrounds the eye and is responsible for controlling the closing of the eye. When this muscle is activated, it tightens around the eye and pulls the skin forward, causing crow’s feet to form. Botox® works by reducing the underlying muscle activity that eventually leads to crow’s feet lines. Patient will see results after Botox® treatment about five days and will last for about 3-4 months.
In addition to Botox® for crow’s feet I encourage my patients to use Vivier GrenzCine eye cream. A specialty eye cream that helps to increase the firmness of the skin around the eyes and eyelids while diminishing fine lines and increasing moisturization and luminosity. It is also important to incorporate the daily use of sunscreen to protect the skin from the harmful ultraviolet rays of sun. My personal favourite is Enviroscreen™ Protection Face Shield Glow with SPF 50 with frequent applications of Enviroscreen™ Protection Brush-On shield SPF 50.
See the video below to see Dr. Paul Nassif discuss Botox® in the crows feet area.