Answers About Brotox in Minneapolis

Of the nearly 15 million cosmetic procedures (surgical and non-surgical) performed in 2013, over 90% were received by women, according to ASPS statistics. Perhaps this shouldn’t be surprising, as even in the workplace, women experience intense social pressures in terms of appearances. With rising numbers of aging baby boomers in executive and leadership positions, this pressure has slowly been migrating to include men as well. As a result—in combination with broader acceptance of cosmetic surgery and cosmetic procedures—men have been increasingly seeking out cosmetic procedures for the same reasons that women have traditionally been drawn to them: the promise of a more youthful appearance and a more confident demeanor. “Keeping up with—or ahead of—the junior executives” may now be one more reason for women, and men, to consider cosmetic procedures.

This rise in men seeking facial rejuvenation has led to an increase in the availability of procedures tailored to the needs and desires of men, especially in the cosmetic field. Indeed, we’re now inundated with phrases such as “Brotox,” mean to delineate those Botox Cosmetic treatments that are specifically targeted or especially appealing to men. As a society, we love neologisms (that’s a fancy word that means “new words”) so much that “Brotox” has come to describe a wide selection of procedures that are popular among men. And, to be sure, Brotox in Minneapolis is quite popular at Carillon Clinic. This does not necessarily mean that any of these procedures is unique to men—in most cases, men and women largely undergo very similar procedures. However, the administration of these procedures can vary widely depending on gender—for example, Botox Cosmetic may be injected into different areas of the face depending on where wrinkles have formed, and the location and severity of those wrinkles can sometimes be gender-dependent.

Cosmetic Procedures That Are a Great Fit for Men

So let’s look at a few procedures that, at Carillon Clinic, we’ve noticed are especially popular among our male clients.

Botox: While it’s been around since the late 1980’s, Botox Cosmetic really started to become popular in the late 1990s, and into the 2000’s. Indeed, Botox is the most popular procedure in the country, and continues to grow in popularity every year despite some stiff competition from constantly innovating alternatives. Botox works on the principle that many of the wrinkles in our faces are caused by, essentially, “flexed” or contracted muscles. These muscles are then targeted by a Botox injection, which prevents muscle contraction and relaxes that muscle for a prolonged period of time, diminishing the wrinkle or wrinkles associated with that particular muscle group.

Botox procedures can generally be performed in about ten or fifteen minutes, and the results typically last for 3-4 months—though patient to patient variation may cause some Botox results to last as long as 6 months, or as little as 2 months. Recovery is typically painless, though sometimes there may be mild bruising or redness (particularly if you take aspirin or ibuprofen within 2 weeks prior to treatment). Nonetheless, you should be able to return to work almost immediately after your injection, earning Botox its reputation as a lunch-break procedure. Exercise, facials, or massaging the areas where Botox is injected should be avoided for 24 hours, and the maximum muscle relaxation in treated areas can take a few days, so treatment should be done a couple of weeks before that special event, high school reunion, or executive meeting.

Dermal Fillers: Trying to achieve the same basic result with a slightly different tactic, dermal fillers are almost the procedural opposite of Botox procedures, mainly because they’re designed to grapple with a different type of wrinkle. The wrinkles targeted by Botox are created by muscle contraction. Wrinkles targeted by dermal fillers are caused by loss of volume and elasticity in the tissues of the face. This is also, by the way, what causes artifacts of aging such as jowls and the folds along the nose. Dermal fillers do just what it sounds like they do: fill the volume in the spaces caused by loss of skin elasticity and loss of volume. Deep frown lines, for example, may actually require both Botox and filler for optimum results, since filler alone won’t last very long if the offending scowl muscles are not inactivated by Botox.

In general, dermal fillers are a little more versatile than something like Botox, and they can be used to smooth out skin around, for example, the cheeks. Dermal fillers can also be used to fill in those smile lines around your jaw, or, in some cases, can be used to fill in the volume around your jawline. This is particularly relevant for men, as dermal fillers can help maintain some definition to the jawline when the skin might otherwise start sagging.

Of course, the wide variety of dermal fillers available means there are some decisions we can help you make in terms of which filler you’d like to have injected. They each have their strengths and weaknesses, and most of them will last between one and two years. Which dermal filler you go with will largely depend on which wrinkles you’d like to diminish and how deep or shallow those wrinkles may be. Like Botox, most dermal filler procedures can almost universally be accomplished quite quickly—sometimes in as little as 15 or 20 minutes. Most patients can return to work or normal activity immediately, though we recommend you do not massage the injected areas for a day or so. You may also want to reschedule your daily racquetball game as well. But make-up can be applied immediately, just as with Botox. We also use advanced fillers and biostimulants such as Voluma and Sculptra.

Laser Hair Removal: We’re including this procedure because it’s one that is traditionally requested by women, but one we find more and more male patients are interested in as well. Laser hair removal procedures permanently reduce hair growth—but only in hairs that are in a certain phase of their growth cycle. This is why multiple treatment sessions are usually required, in order to ultimately treat most of the hairs in a given area at the proper phase. The lasers are able to accomplish this by targeting the growth centers in the hair follicle, essentially heating and destroying the ability for that hair to regrow.

Laser hair removal is becoming increasingly popular for men as, over time, the ideal body has become a hairless body. In the 80’s, there was the image of David Hasselhoff with chest hair so thick it was popping out of his shirt—but those days are long behind us, and smooth skin is in. Laser hair removal is often regarded by women as a replacement for waxing—which in itself can be an incredibly painful and time-consuming process. For men, we see laser hair removal as a bypass of waxing (which, curiously, remains a very feminine activity compared to laser hair removal).

After three or four sessions, laser hair removal will eliminate most of the unwanted hair in the targeted area. Meaning you get to be smooth without much of a hassle[hoff]. (Sorry about that, but trust us, shaving does not work for body hair—it’s just not a practical long term solution.)

Why Men Get Cosmetic Procedures

There’s no one main reason why someone requests cosmetic procedures—many people come in for a wide variety of reasons, and those reasons are almost always quite individualized. In other words, no two patients are alike, and that’s one of our core philosophies at Carillon Clinic. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some trends we use to help guide the procedures we recommend and discuss with patients. In the case of our male patients at Carillon Clinic, we’ve also noticed that they come in for a wide variety of reasons.

Sometimes, the face they see in the mirror simply looks a little bit older than how they feel it ought to. It’s not uncommon for many of our patients to feel younger than they look and use (non-surgical) cosmetic procedures to bridge the gap before cosmetic surgery. In other cases, patients have an important event coming up. It’s not uncommon for some of our male patients, especially, to seek out a Botox treatment before an important client meeting or before a vital job interview. Youth certainly makes an impression—and the ability to look youthful can put our patients in a competitive advantage.

Or, at least, it can feel that way to our patients. And that’s not an unimportant feature of cosmetic surgery. For all of our patients, male and female, we love to see the extra boost of confidence and increased competitiveness that comes with these cosmetic procedures. Whether you’re looking at Botox Cosmetic treatments, dermal fillers, or laser hair removal, our goal is that you love the results and feel good afterward. All patients who come in have a desired look in mind—and we take very seriously the endeavor of giving you that look.

Get Your Procedure Today

It’s also worth noting that Botox Cosmetic, dermal fillers, and laser hair removal are only a few of the ways we can offer improvements in how you look and feel—there are many other procedures which are great for male and female patients. Carillon Clinic offers a wide variety of procedures and products to our Minneapolis area patients, including facial peels to rejuvenate sun-damaged or weathered skin, Vitamin B12 Injections for more energy and wellbeing, and SkinPen (or microneedling) treatments to treat fine lines or scars. Indeed, cosmetic procedures have come a long way when it comes to generating excellent results with a minimum of discomfort and downtime. This means that modern cosmetic procedures can leave you feeling and looking more youthful more quickly and with less discomfort.

With such positive attributes, it’s no wonder that cosmetic procedures are growing in popularity. Indeed, in the face of ever more intense pressure when it comes to maintaining an energetic, vital, and youthful appearance, we’re looking for men to continually comprise a growing part of the cosmetic surgery and cosmetic procedure clientele. Brotox may sound like a passing trend (and, honestly, that’s why we’re not a big fan of that particular nickname), but male patients who have found satisfaction in these procedures aren’t going away. In fact, their numbers will only continue to grow, and we welcome them all into our wonderful community.

Contact Minneapolis Anti Aging and Skin Clinic at 763-540-1837.