When talking about wrinkles, it is sometimes confusing for the general public to distinguish between the “fine lines” and “wrinkles”. Wrinkles are furrows, folds, or creases in the skin and are identified by their characteristic long, narrow shape. Because both “fine lines” and “wrinkles” are expressed as “皺紋” in Mandarin, It is hard for the physicians to know exactly what the patients really want when they talk about wrinkles reduction.
Some customers may wish to have “wrinkles removal”, but they might actually talk about improvement of “fine lines”. Therefore, cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists should be more specific when talking about wrinkles correction.
Since the introduction of botulinum toxin (BTA) in the 90s, its application for the improvement and correction of wrinkles had revolutionized the aesthetic markets in Taiwan. Initially as a medical treatment for blepharospasm and torticollis, it was soon modified to be used in the treatment of periorbital wrinkles and forehead frown lines. The demand for wrinkles reduction was such a huge market that BTA soon became the leading and the most popular cosmetic therapy in Taiwan.
Came along with the trend was the demand for deep skin folds correction. Various fillers, including collagen, hyaluronic acid, polyacryamide, calcium hydroxylapatite, poly-L-lactic acid, and polycaprolactone, were introduced one by one and become the mainstream of the facial aesthetic procedures nowadays.
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The Neurotoxins
Most of the wrinkles appeared in the age of 40’s. Women usually noticed their first skin line in the periorbital region, the so called “crowfeet”. Along with these symptoms, the glabellar and forehead frown lines also appeared gradually. It is very common for people in Taiwan to ask for wrinkles correction of these two anatomical areas. (Figure 1) Some patients also cared about the fine lines in the infraorbital lower eyelids.
It is sometimes difficult to treat these lines because of the complexity of this region. The lower eyelids wrinkles are also often confused with the puffiness of the lower eyelids and the tear trough. Nevertheless, adequate use of BTA injection for these areas can easily correct the dynamic wrinkles.
-To be continued
