Treatment Diary: Here’s What It’s Like to Have a Botox Consultation

What to expect at your Botox consultation

Are you curious about trying a Botox treatment and not sure where to begin? A consultation is a great place to start. Having never experienced Botox or Xeomin at LaserAway myself, I was interested in chatting with a clinician and finding out what the treatment might be like.

For my consultation at LaserAway’s Brooklyn Heights location, I was paired with a lovely nurse named Gaby, who met me in the consultation room. (not all patients choose to get consultations, but I decided to!)

Recently, I’ve developed deeper wrinkles and fine lines on my forehead and in my “elevens”—which is the small area between my eyes, more formally referred to as the “glabella.” While some people like to get filler to treat signs of aging, Gaby suggested using a neurotoxin like Botox or Xeomin to treat this part of my face. I was unsure of the difference between Botox and Xeomin. “We offer two different brands of neurotoxins,” Gaby explained. “These two brands work pretty similarly. The main proprietary difference between them is the protein they include. Xeomin doesn’t have the added proteins that Botox does, but both neurotoxins inhibit the muscle for the same amount of time. Xeomin tends to be a little more affordable, but both are great products.”

After explaining the two treatments available, I felt myself leaning toward Xeomin, which surprised me as I’ve always assumed I’d be in the market for Botox. Gaby told me that before the injection, the nurse would ask what kind of look I’d want to achieve — whether it’s little movement to the muscle or slight movement in the muscle. Another option was a more natural “baby Botox” look. This will indicate to the nurse exactly how many units need to be injected. Regardless, these treatments will keep your facial muscles moving for 3-4 months. But, she mentioned that some people might require a touch-up after two weeks.

“Baby Botox” is an excellent choice for those who are new to neurotoxin and not sure they’d like it. It’s essentially a light sprinkling that relaxes the muscle, thus minimizing the appearance of lines and wrinkles. It also ensures that your face will maintain a level of expressiveness that it might otherwise lose with full-fledged Botox or Xeomin. Even still, every patient is different in terms of how they’re affected by the treatment. Nurse Gaby explained, “Some people come with more active muscles, so they naturally require more units of injection, even if they want to take a more light-handed approach. You’ll see this with people on the younger side, but it really varies.” I now understood why it was so important to have this consultation prior to injections—in order to achieve the most ideal results, the experience simply must be personalized.

Although Gaby had done a great job explaining what I could expect—I was still nervous about what might happen if I didn’t like my results or ended up with brow drooping or “spocking” (overly raised eyebrows). She shared that while it is impossible to “undo” a neurotoxin (which is not the case with getting filler), the effects of neurotoxins only last a few months. The body naturally breaks down the injection over time and metabolizes it until it’s no longer impacting your muscle movement. And Gaby assured me that all LaserAway clinicians are given expert training so they know where to inject to prevent both drops and cases of spocking.

She also made me feel better when she said that the likelihood of complications are slim to none. “We’ve been really well trained,” she assured me, “and there’s so much support here.

This consultation made it obvious to me that Gaby and the other medical providers at LaserAway were absolute experts in neurotoxin injections. All I had to do to minimize the chances of bruising was avoid ibruprofen and drinking alcohol for 24-48 hours ahead of treatment. I also needed to steer clear of exercise (fine by me!) and hot showers for the 24-hour period following my injection. The same goes for wearing a tight baseball hat.

Now that I had all the information, I was ready to charge forth and get my first neurotoxin treatment. Goodbye, forehead wrinkles—hello, smooth, youthful-looking skin!

Blair Smith is a lifestyle and beauty writer who currently resides (and will likely stay forever) in Brooklyn, New York.