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Very few of us have perfect skin but there are lots of ways to help smooth and even out the skin on our faces.  Wrinkles are mostly caused by the facial muscles used to smile or frown, which cause the overlying skin to form creases over time.

Muscle relaxant injections are a non-surgical treatment to reduce the appearance of wrinkles or to prevent excessive sweating.  They are sometimes used in combination with dermal fillers.

The ideal areas to be treated are:

• forehead lines - horizontal frown lines
• under arms - to prevent excessive sweating
• glabeller lines - vertical frown lines between the eyebrows
• crow's feet or laughter lines - radiating away from the eyes.

The procedure
Treatment involves an injection of botulinum toxin, a protein made by bacteria, directly into the facial muscles.  This protein acts to block nerve transmission to specific muscles, thereby rendering them less active.  By diminishing the activity of these particular muscles, the overlying skin becomes smoother and unwrinkled.

The effects of botulinum toxin injections usually last from three to six months initially, although after two or three treatments the results tend to last longer.

Recovery
There are usually no visible effects, as it may take between three and seven days for the treatment to begin working, so people can therefore go straight back to work or to a social engagement.