Combining Botox and Fillers for a Liquid Facelift

In this episode of “Anti-Aging Insights,” Dr. Teri Fisher dives deep into the benefits of combining neuromodulators (such as Botox, Nuceiva, Dysport, and Xeomin) with dermal fillers for enhanced anti-aging results. Dr. Fisher explains how these treatments, two of the most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures, complement each other to deliver comprehensive facial rejuvenation, often termed a “liquid facelift.”

Neuromodulators work by temporarily relaxing the muscles responsible for dynamic wrinkles, which are the lines that appear when you make expressions like smiling or frowning. The effects typically last about three to four months, making them ideal for treating crow’s feet, frown lines, and horizontal forehead lines.

On the other hand, dermal fillers address static wrinkles and areas with volume loss that are present even when the face is at rest. Commonly treated areas include nasolabial folds, marionette lines, cheeks, jawline, temples, and lips. Made of hyaluronic acid, dermal fillers add volume and hydration, with results lasting up to a year or longer.

When used together, neuromodulators and dermal fillers offer a holistic approach to facial aging by addressing multiple types of wrinkles simultaneously. This dual treatment ensures a more harmonious and natural-looking result. Dr. Fisher emphasizes the importance of customization, as every face and its aging process are unique. He discusses how a tailored combination of these treatments can enhance overall facial balance and rejuvenation.

The episode also highlights the quick and minimally invasive nature of these treatments. With little to no downtime, clients can see immediate results from fillers and full effects from neuromodulators within 10 to 14 days.

Dr. Fisher advises consulting a qualified professional to achieve the best outcomes. The strategic use of these treatments aims to enhance natural beauty and restore a youthful appearance, all while avoiding the telltale signs of cosmetic work.

For personalized consultation and to discuss your aesthetic goals, Dr. Fisher invites listeners to reach out to him via Instagram or his website, DrTeriFisher.com.

Key Insights

• Combining neuromodulators like Botox and dermal fillers, often referred to as a “liquid facelift,” offers comprehensive facial rejuvenation without surgery.
• Neuromodulators, such as Botox, temporarily relax muscles to treat dynamic wrinkles, which appear with facial expressions, while dermal fillers add volume and smooth out static wrinkles, which are present even at rest.
• The combination treatment addresses multiple types of wrinkles simultaneously, ensuring a harmonized and natural-looking result by treating both dynamic and static wrinkles.
• Customization is a key advantage of combining these treatments, allowing a tailored approach to meet individual facial needs and rejuvenation goals.
• The procedures are minimally invasive with little downtime, and results are seen quickly: filler effects are immediate, while neuromodulator results peak in about 10 to 14 days.

Episode Transcript

Hey there and welcome to this episode of the podcast as always. It’s an absolute pleasure to have you along for this week’s episode. Today we have got another fantastic topic for you and this is all about combining treatments. In particular, today I’m going to talk about combining neuromodulator, which is often known as Botox or the other brands along with dermal fillers. These are probably two of the most common injectable treatments that we do, and very often clients will come in and they will be looking for both, both neuromodulator and filler. And today I want to describe why that is so effective for anti-aging results and a little bit about what each of those treatments do, but more specifically what they do when they are done together with each other at the same time.

So if you are a longtime fan of aesthetic treatments, or you are just curious about the latest trends, then this episode is packed with insights that you won’t want to miss. So to start off, let’s understand the benefits of combining these treatments. But really to do that it’s essential first to know what each treatment specifically does, because if we don’t know what each one does on its own, then how can we know what they do together?

As I mentioned, neuromodulator, which typically includes brands like Botox, Nuceiva, Dysport, Xeomin, and dermal fillers are two of the most popular non-surgical cosmetic procedures that are out there and they are used for various aspects of combating or delaying what we see in terms of facial aging.

Neurotoxin, or neuromodulator, for those that might not be familiar is a medication like Botox that temporarily relaxes the muscles that are responsible for the dynamic wrinkles in your face. What does that mean? The dynamic wrinkles are those lines and folds that appear when you make expressions, when you smile, when you frown, when you squint, and those sorts of things. If you look in the mirror and you make different expressions, you will see that lines form on your face. That’s how we see the expressions.

So some of the more common dynamic wrinkles that people like to get treated are the lines that they don’t want. The ones that include the crow’s feet around the eyes, the vertical frown lines between the eyebrows, often known as the Eleven’s, or the horizontal forehead lines above your eyebrows. The neuromodulator works by blocking the nerve signals to the muscles and that results in a smoother and more relaxed appearance. The effects of this typically lasts about three to four months, depending on your metabolism. And then the treatment can be repeated after that. So that’s neuromodulators in a nutshell.

On the other hand, dermal fillers tackle more of the static wrinkles and the areas where we have volume loss. So what are static wrinkles? These are the wrinkles and folds that are present even when your face is at rest. So when you are not moving the muscles and you look in the mirror, if you see any lines, wrinkles, folds, those are known as the static lines. And you can imagine that if we inject neuromodulator, which softens the action of the muscles underneath, that doesn’t really do much for static lines because they’re there regardless of whether or not you are moving your muscles.

Those static lines and folds are due to a loss of collagen, a loss of hyaluronic acid, and a loss of fat volume as we age. So common areas that are treated with fillers include nasolabial folds, the lines that are running from the sides of the nose, to the corners of the mouth, the marionette lines, the lines that run from the corners of the mouth downward, and cheeks to restore volume. You can also of course do filler in other places of the face, like the jawline, you can do it in the temple. So there are lots of places that you can do filler. Oh, and one very common one that I should mention of course is lips.

Dermal fillers are typically made of hyaluronic acid. And that’s a substance that’s naturally found in the skin, and they work by adding volume and hydration to the treated areas. The results of the dermal fillers can last up to a year or sometimes longer, depending on the type of filler that is used. So those are some of the big differences between the two.

Just to recap that part, again, neuromodulator is more for dynamic wrinkles and it works by softening the action of the muscles, and filler is more for the folds, the static lines and the loss of volume that occurs with aging.

Okay. Now that we have a clear understanding of what those two different types of treatments do individually, let’s talk about the magic that happens when these two treatments are combined. And that’s really the purpose of this episode. When you combine neuromodulator and dermal fillers, some people refer to this as a “liquid facelift” because it provides a comprehensive approach to facial rejuvenation without the need for surgery. I like that term, liquid facelift, because as you may know, facelifts typically are a surgical procedure and there’s obviously significant downtime if you’re having a surgical procedure on your face.

In this case, we are injecting different types of gels or liquids, medications, to have much of the same result. One of the real benefits of combining these treatments is the ability to address multiple types of wrinkles simultaneously. As I mentioned, neuromodulator is great for the dynamic wrinkles, and the dermal fillers add volume and smoothness to the static wrinkles and the hollow areas. So this dual approach ensures a more harmonious and natural looking results, because both the dynamic and the static wrinkles are treated together.

Another really significant advantage is the customization aspect of this, because every face is unique, and that’s something that I pride myself on doing, is having a look at your face if you are my client and figuring out what is appropriate for you. And the signs of aging will vary from person to person. So by combining neuromodulator and dermal fillers, we can tailor the treatment plan to specifically meet the needs and goals of each individual. I’ll give you an example. A patient might benefit from using a neuromodulator to soften the forehead lines and the crow’s feet, because they tend to have a lot of wrinkles in that area, while the dermal fillers can be used to add volume to the cheeks and fill in some of the laugh lines, because they are deficient in those areas. That customized approach enhances the overall balance and the facial rejuvenation. So I think that’s really one of the powerful things about this aspect.

Clients also tend to appreciate the really natural looking results that can be achieved with this combination. Rather than looking done or overly treated, the goal is to enhance what natural beauty, and then to restore that youthful appearance, but in a subtle way. And the strategic use of Botox and fillers can result in smoother skin, lifted contours and a more refreshed look without the telltale signs of cosmetic work.

When it is performed by someone who is qualified and has experience the results can be tremendously effective. But please make sure that you do see somebody who understands the nuances of facial anatomy and has expertise in these areas.

The procedures themselves are relatively quick and minimally invasive. Typically the treatment itself involves a consultation where we map out the facial anatomy, discuss the goals and map out the treatment areas. The injections are done with fine needles or cannulas, and there might be some redness or swelling immediately following the treatment. But this usually resolves relatively quickly with very little downtime.

Finally with regards to the results, the dermal filler results are visible right away. Literally, as we inject the filler, it fills up the volume and you’re able to see the results immediately in the chair. The neuromodulator does take a few days to kick in. And the full effects of that is typically seen within about 10 to 14 days or so.

So in summary, combining neuromodulator and dermofillers offers a really powerful non-surgical solution to facial aging. It is often known as the liquid facelift. It allows for a tailored multifaceted treatment that addresses both the dynamic and the static wrinkles, and it results in a very natural looking rejuvenation.

So, if you are considering these treatments, I highly recommend consulting with a qualified professional. Of course, I would be more than happy to discuss this with you and to discuss your individual needs and what your aesthetic goals are.

As always, thanks so much for tuning into this episode. I hope you found this discussion on the benefits of combining treatments both informative and enlightening. If you have any questions or topics you’d like me to cover in the future, please feel free to reach out to me.

Until next time, thanks again for tuning in. You can reach out to me on my Instagram or on my website, DrTeriFisher.Com and I look forward to speaking with you again very soon. Take ,care.