Botox is My New BFF

So the BOTOX.

I love it!

After the fiasco of the skin tags, we had to walk over to the other side of the clinic; the spa side. It was glorious and warm over there.

And it had a waterfall.

And the walls were painted in muted earth tones.

And the exam table was large, plush and covered with a flannel type sheet. I could easily have curled up and gone to sleep on it.

I was perfectly relaxed.

I was asked to sign some consent forms and then I got a look at the 32 units of BOTOX that would be shot into my face. I might be reading too much into it but I swear that my husband was looking forward to seeing me on the receiving end of those big ass needles. He seemed to be both horrified and fascinated at the size of them. I was just eager.

Back on the clinic side of the facility, we took a couple of before pictures.
In the first picture, I was asked to frown. See those marks between the eyebrows? They're called "eleven lines". We all have them. They are created when we use those muscles to squint in the sun or when there is something that perplexes us, like say, teenagers, for instance. We use them when we are angry and when we are concentrating. In short, over a lifetime, those babies get LOTS of work.

The second picture obviously shows what happens when we raise our eyebrows in happiness, surprise, fear, worry and disbelief. The beauty of BOTOX is that you treat the muscles by the temples. I'll still be able to raise my eyebrows, enabling expression but the muscles that cause the creases in my forehead won't react.

To get the stuff in the right place, I was asked to frown again. In spite of what it looks like, I am in no pain whatsoever.

There was a tiny prick when the needle first went in but it wasn't painful, just weird. As half an inch is buried into the muscle, you hear a strange crackling sound. For any women out there that pierced their own ears or helped a girlfriend do hers, the sound is similar to when the needle works its way through cartilage in the ear.

This is where the needle goes to immobilize those muscles that cause the forehead creases. This area seemed to be more sensitive but totally bearable. Dallas said, "Doesn't that hurt?" Honestly, it didn't.

See? That is the look of a woman at peace.


As mentioned yesterday, I thought the effects would be immediate so when I was told that it might be as long as a week to immobilize my face, I was a bit deflated. But here I am, two days later and there is definite progress.

Most of the muscles between my eyebrows have ceased to work and that area is smoothing out beautifully. I'm likely to look happy, even when I'm not, which I'm sure will become confusing for my children. Imagine the fun watching them search my face for mood clues only to come up with a big question mark. I get all tingly just thinking about it. I've often been told that I can be read like a book so in addition to freaking out my kids, I can see this whole deal being very helpful in business negotiations and poker games.

Best $270 bucks I've spent in a LONG TIME.

Now, if there was something they could do about these bags under my eyes or the dark circles that shadow them.....

Just kidding.

For now.