Crow's Feet treatment, Broadway, Sydney

When you smile or squint, the skin around your eyes naturally crinkles. The lines that radiate from the outer corners of your eyes every time you smile may become more obvious over time. They may eventually be evident even when you are not making any facial expressions. These lines are known as 'crow's feet'

Did you know there are broadly four types of crow’s feet: full fan, upper, central and lower. Full fan crow’s feet spread wide like fingers, ‘upper’ tend to angle up toward the outer brow, ‘central’ are the classic type we usually think of coming from the corner of the eyes and ‘lower’ crow’s feet spread down into the outer cheek.

Just as with  frown and forehead lines, treatment is directed at the cause of the problem and therefore involves relaxing the specific  muscles that create these  lines.

Muscle relaxant injections are composed of a natural, purified protein which is derived from bacteria in much the same way that Penicillin is extracted from a mould. Due to Australian law we cannot name this anti-wrinkle injection on our website. Should you wish to know its name please contact us via private email.  

Muscle relaxant injections treat wrinkles that are caused by the contraction of facial muscles. They inhibit communication between nerve and muscle with the result that wrinkle-causing muscles relax and so create a smoother, rejuvenated, natural-looking appearance.

Before After

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A number of tiny injections of muscle relaxant are precisely injected into the  muscles that cause squinting.  Treatment is quick and easy and generally very well tolerated with virtually no downtime.           Watch a video of treatment for crow's feet lines.

We use the finest needles available and only small volumes are injected. Anaesthetic cream, laughing gas or ice applied to the area prior to treatment are available if required to ensure your comfort.

The effects of anti-wrinkle injections often begin to appear 2-3 days after treatment but may continue to accrue for 1-2 weeks.

Muscle relaxant injections are not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding women. Your full medical history will be reviewed at your initial consultation to exclude other possible contraindications.

Before After

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The goal of treating the crow's feet lines is to give a natural, relaxed, though not necessarily frozen appearance. Though some clients request complete  relaxation, many wish to preserve some natural looking movement and expression. The degree of relaxation achieved is easily controlled by limiting the amount of muscle relaxant injected. All our cosmetic injectors assess each client on an individual basis and a treatment plan is developed according to their needs. All clients at Heber Davis are photographed, treated conservatively in the first instance, asked to return 2 weeks post treatment to review and, if necessary, finetune their result.

It is important to note that muscle relaxant injections do not immediately improve ingrained lines, or lines that are present at rest. These can be treated by adding volume with dermal fillers or through skin resurfacing. However, over the course of a number of muscle relaxant treatments skin that is normally creased rests and recovers with the result that ingrained lines gradually soften and fade.

If at any time you decide to cease treatment your muscles simply return to normal. Wrinkling returns to its previous state, and does not become worse.

Studies have shown that anti-wrinkle injections are more effective and last longer due to progressive weakening of the muscles treated when initially given at regular 4th monthly intervals.  Other studies also suggest that muscle relaxant treatments train muscles (and the individual using those muscles) to become less animated over time, allowing some enduring effect.

Most patients require less frequent and/or smaller doses of muscle relaxant over time because wrinkles soften and become less visible with repeated treatments.  Research shows that the more muscle relaxant treatments you have, the longer  your result may last and many patients find they eventually only need treatment twice a year.

Normal activities may be resumed after treatment. However, you will be instructed not to exercise, lie down, or touch the treated areas for 4 hours.

Before After

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Anti-wrinkle injections have been commonly used for cosmetic purposes for over a decade and for medical purposes for much longer,  without any reports of adverse long-term effects. In Australia, there are six registered indications for the use of anti-wrinkle injections. These are: to help reduce spasticity and allow normal movement for children with cerebral palsy, to reduce eyelid and neck muscle spasms, to treat underarm sweating, frown lines and focal spasticity in adults.

Side effects are minor and temporary and all resolve naturally. As with any injection, there is a risk of temporary redness, swelling or bruising. Makeup may be worn immediately and downtime is usually nil. Other possible adverse outcomes include asymmetrical results, failure to cause a significant change in the wrinkles (usually due to inadequate dosing), and eyelid or eyebrow droop. Eye drops are available that may reverse this effect whilst waiting spontaneous recovery.

Click for recommendations about how to prepare for your treatment.

  Experience counts:   During 2011, Heber Davis performed over 2200 muscle relaxant treatments.  Temporary weakness  of an upper  eyelid is a recognised risk of muscle relaxant treatment of the upper face.  The worldwide incidence of this side effect is 3.2%. At Heber Davis the incidence in 2011 was 0.0005%.