McKeown Medical
167 Bath Street, Glasgow, G2 4SQ
Date posted — 21.10.24
The eyes are often described as the window to the soul. They are also often one of the first parts of the face to show signs of ageing, conferring a tired or worried look. It’s little wonder, therefore, that there is a lot of interest in treatments that help to reduce signs of ageing around the eyes.
One of the most common signs of ageing around the eyes is wrinkles at the sides of the eyes, known colloquially as ‘crow feet‘ or more technically as ‘lateral canthal rhytids’. These lines are usually caused by repetitive movement of the underlying orbicularis oculi muscle. Treating these lines using anti-wrinkle injections, which act to reduce the underlying muscle activity, is, therefore, one of the most popular treatments for eye wrinkles.
It is derived from a bacterium called Clostridium botulinum. Contrary to popular opinion, you are not being injected with harmful bacteria. Nor are you even being injected with a full toxin – the drug is simply derived from the toxin produced by the bacteria, similar to the way many other types of drugs are manufactured.
When injected in small doses, the drug blocks the nerve endings from stimulating the muscles to contract – causing the muscle to relax, usually for a few months at a time.
The anti-wrinkle procedure is relatively straightforward. It involves injecting small amounts of diluted drug into targeted facial muscles. In order to achieve the best results, you should make sure you are treated by an experienced doctor who intuitively understands the balance of anatomy, physiology and pharmacology to allow them to tailor the advice and treatment to your own unique circumstances to achieve the best results.
You can usually start to see the results of the treatment within a few days, although it typically takes up to two weeks to see the full results.
Before your anti-wrinkle treatment, it’s important that your doctor takes a full medical history, including what medications you take, any allergies you may have and how you have reacted to previous cosmetic procedures. By having a detailed understanding of your background, your doctor can make the most appropriate recommendations to ensure you achieve optimal results.
After the treatment, it is quite normal to see some immediate redness and swelling at the injection site. This normally resolves within a few minutes – typically by the time you get back to the car. It is much less common to develop any bruising. If this happens, it can usually be camouflaged with some make-up and will go away like any normal bruise.
It is quite common to develop a headache following treatment – this can affect up to 1 in 10 patients. If you develop a headache, you can take over-the-counter pain medication like paracetamol (or Tylenol if you are in the US).
Much less commonly, you can develop drooping of the eyelid or eyebrow. This usually affects around 1 in 3000 patients and is usually associated with the treatment of the frown muscles. If you are only being treated with anti-wrinkle injections around the eyes, then you should be safe from this side effect.
Crow’s feet and frown lines often occur together, along with drooping of the brow and eyelids. It is common to combine the treatment of wrinkles around the eyes with the treatment of frown lines in the same session. By employing this combination approach, it is possible to achieve a subtle brow lift, which many patients benefit from.
It’s crucial to have realistic expectations about the results of anti-wrinkle treatments. Whilst it is usually possible to reduce the appearance of lines and wrinkles, no one can guarantee that you will necessarily look any younger. Most people find that they look the same, just a little more rested.
Repeat treatments are necessary to maintain the results. The effects of each session typically last between three to six months.
The success of any cosmetic treatment largely depends on the skill and experience of the doctor performing the procedure. Make sure you always see an experienced doctor, not just for the technical aspects of performing the procedure – but for the right advice on which treatment is the best one for your needs. Practising medicine involves both art and science, which always improves with experience, so make sure you get the best advice possible for your own circumstances.
Learn how arm lift surgery and non-surgical treatments can improve loose upper arm skin, reduce the appearance of “bingo wings,...
Learn whether wrinkle-relaxing injections or dermal fillers can improve sagging jowls, how non-surgical treatments work, and which options may help...
Discover how Sofwave works for skin tightening, jowl improvement, and collagen stimulation, including whether it causes fat loss and what...
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Learn how arm lift surgery and non-surgical treatments can improve loose upper arm skin, reduce the appearance of “bingo wings,...
Learn whether wrinkle-relaxing injections or dermal fillers can improve sagging jowls, how non-surgical treatments work, and which options may help...
Discover how Sofwave works for skin tightening, jowl improvement, and collagen stimulation, including whether it causes fat loss and what...
Let`s talk about Mounjaro / Ozempic face!
It feels like everyone is on weight loss drugs right now, and they`re incredible for transforming bodies and health, but rapid weight loss has a real impact on the face.
This lovely patient lost an incredible 6 stones in just twelve months on Mounjaro and loved the results, but felt the life had been sucked out of her face. She naturally had a fuller, more plump face that looked youthful but the rapid weight loss diminished that.
There`s a lot of conversation right now about the best way of tackling it aesthetically and there are different options available. However, since loss of volume is the key driver of the changes, restoring the volume needs to be a central component of how we treat it - which is exactly what we did here.
This is the patient a couple of weeks after 10mls of HA filler in the mid and lower face. She is over the moon that she now has the body and health profile she wanted, but got her face back too!
The best of both worlds. What do you think?
Here’s another gorgeous upper blepharoplasty result from our phenomenal surgeon, @bramhallplasticsurgery.
This patient is 62 years old and came to us for upper eyelid surgery just 2.5 months ago. Russell performed the procedure while she was awake with just a few numbing injections. Here at the clinic we can offer facial surgery with local anaesthetic for those who want to remain awake, or with deep sedation for anyone who’d prefer to sleep throughout (without the downsides of general anaesthetic!)
Thank you to this patient for allowing us to share her fabulous result - her scars are already settling beautifully and will continue to fade over the next 12 months.
What do you think?
Our resident superstar breast surgery expert Dr Kavita was asked to talk about trends in breast surgery on BBC Radio Scotland today. This was Kavita’s first ever live interview and we thought she nailed it!
What do you think?
And this is why combination treatments always win!
This lovely patient is in her 50s and was noticing all of the classic signs of ageing. She was starting to see some jowls forming, the neck was becoming more saggy and she felt she was looking tired.
At this stage in the ageing process it is not one thing that is responsible for causing the tired expression, its a combination of changes that are working together which is why we need a combination of treatments to target it effectively.
We did some sofwave treatment first to tighten the skin on the face and neck. Sofwave is very effective at tightening the skin, but remember: the skin is only the outer layer of the face, so we supported the treatment with some volume replacement in the deeper layers.
I decided to post her selfie style before and afters as well as her clinical pictures so you can see how it looks in real life, as well as the clinical up-close detail. The patient is over the moon with her results.
What do you think?
Here is another beautifully balanced deep plane face and neck lift by the skilful @bramhallplasticsurgery.
The deep plane technique, as the name suggests, works at a deeper level, repositioning the underlying structures of the face and neck rather than simply tightening the skin. By addressing the deeper tissues, we can restore more natural proportions, refine the jawline, and create a smoother, more defined contour beneath the chin - especially when the patient moves or bends their neck forward.
To achieve this impressive improvement in the neck, even in flexion, Russell reduced the deep fat (from under the muscle), trimmed and shaped the salivary glands and reconstructed the muscles of the neck to create a rejuvenated result. This is a much more sophisticated procedure compared with a standard face and neck lift.
At just 2 months post-op, her result is already beautifully balanced. The jawline is sharper, the neck more sculpted, and everything sits in harmony with the rest of her features. Scars are settling well and will continue to soften over time.
She may choose to refine things further with laser resurfacing for skin quality and subtle volume restoration in the mid-face, but even at this stage, the transformation speaks for itself.
Thank you to our patient for allowing us to share her journey.
What do you think?
Thank you to this lovely patient for allowing us to share her beautiful result from the talented @bramhallplasticsurgery.
This patient is just 2.5 months after upper eyelid surgery, and already looking incredibly fresh and natural. The scars are settling very well and will continue to soften over the coming months.
The incisions are carefully placed within the natural eyelid crease, making them very difficult to see once healed. Excess skin has been removed to open up the eye area, while maintaining a soft, natural appearance.
A small amount of muscle was reduced at the outer part of the eyelid to address hooding, without affecting the central area. This helps preserve a youthful fullness above the eye. There has also been a conservative reduction of the lateral brow fat to further refine the contour. This highly tailored, bespoke approach to surgery is the attention to detail that lies at the heart of our clinic’s approach and philosophy.
As with many patients, her anatomy meant these changes developed earlier than expected. In the right cases, surgery at a younger age can deliver a subtle but very impactful improvement.
What do you think?
Happy Easter from our excited little bunnies 🐣🐰
Thank you to our lovely patient for allowing us to share these photos.
This is just 4 weeks after her first session (of three) with Juläine and we’re already starting to see a soft return of fullness and improvement in skin quality.
Juläine is not a traditional filler. It works by stimulating your body’s own collagen production, gradually restoring structure, firmness and elasticity from within.
This is just the beginning. As collagen continues to rebuild over the coming weeks and months, results will become more noticeable with improved support, smoother contours and a natural, refreshed appearance.
The patient is delighted with her progress so far. What do you think?
And this is why HA fillers have never gone out of fashion in our practice!
This lovely patient had all the classic signs of volume loss in her face and there is no other non-surgical treatment that can address this quite as quickly, effectively and non-invasively as HA filler. Of course, it needs to be carefully and sensitively applied.
This patient had a total of 10mls of HA as well as some wrinkle relaxing on the upper face. She is delighted with her restoration. What do you think?