Botox for the treatment of dynamic and hyperkinetic facial lines and furrows: Adjunctive use in facial aesthetic surgery

Our improved understanding of the pathophysiology of facial lines, wrinkles , and furrows has broadened the treatment options for a variety of facial c osmetic blemishes. The persistence or recurrence of certain facial rhytids after surgery has confirmed the lack of full comprehension of their origin. Glabellar forehead furrows (frown lines) and lateral canthal rhytids (crow 's feet) have been the most popular facial lines that have been shown to be mostly the result of regional hyperkinetic muscles, and their eradication may be more suitable, at times, to chemodenervation than to soft-tissue fil lers, skin resurfacing, or surgical resection. Aesthetic surgical procedure s that have yielded suboptimal results may also occur from failure to recog nize other causative factors including hyperkinetic or dynamic musculature, which may contribute to etiology of the visible soft-tissue changes and la ck of persistent effect after surgery. Chemodenervation with botulinum toxi n A (Botox) has proven to be useful both as a primary treatment for certain facial rhytids and as an adjunctive agent for a variety of facial aestheti c procedures to obtain optimal results.