Getting Botox For The First Time? Here’s What to Expect:

Spoiler: You don’t even need to wait for “the right age.”

The first time I had an opportunity to write about and actually get Botox done, I turned it down because I felt like “I didn’t need it yet.”

But the thing about Botox is it’s not really about age—it’s about your personal skin and body needs and how Botox can address so many of them. It can serve as a preventative measure if you feel you tend to over-express between the brows (me), it can help emphasize your lip shape if you’re not ready for a filler just yet, and it can help reduce sweating in the palms and underarms too, among many other purposes.

The second time I had an opportunity to test out the injectable, I went for it—here's what the experience was like if you're looking into getting your shot for the first time.

Before going any further, let's talk about what botox is. According to WebMD, it is "a brand name of a toxin made by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. There are other brands, such as Dysport and Xeomin." It blocks signals from the nerves to the muscles so that the injected muscle can't contract, which makes wrinkles relax and soften.

Its most used on forehead lines, crow's feet, and frown lines, but it also works for other purposes such as reducing excessive sweating (hyperhidrosis), uncontrollable blinking, aligning a "lazy eye," and helping reduce chronic migraine.

Things to prepare before your treatment:

Have a little list of your concerns. It helps to rank which parts of your face need focus.
Prepare your schedule. Make sure you don’t have anything strenuous afterwards.
Try not to eat foods high in sodium the day before and stay hydrated—best to avoid bloat so your features are assessed as clearly as possible.
Take a “before” selfie pic/vid with your expression flexed and not! This really helps seeing the results after 2 weeks.

Things to expect after your treatment:

Try to document your facial movement every day with photos and short video clips. This really helps you see the progress from day 1 to day 5, where results often start to visually show up, up to day 10-14 where the results fully settle in.
There's not usually any pain, although expect very slight soreness if you're getting it on the masseter (jawline).
Try to document yourself speaking normally and see the difference

I was really scheduled for a different treatment at The A Institute/Aivee Clinic, but upon arrival, there was a change of plans surrounding the machine — on the spot they offered I could try another one along with Botox. Right then and there as well was where Dr Hanee Constantino of The A Institute assessed my facial expressions, how my facial muscles move, and how to address my concern (11 between brows and forehead lines) around how my features move so they can make the Botox work around my natural looks.

Next, they prepared me for the shot by coupling the procedure with a laser treatment beforehand that addresses texture. This treatment required EMLA — a type of topical anaesthesia — which served double purpose for the laser and the needles later on. Getting Botox, as a procedure, goes really quickly, so the clinic suggested I have another procedure done while I was already there.

After the laser, they took advantage of the anesthesia still working and went ahead with the Botox proper. While sitting up, the doctor will have you frown or flex your expression lines and mark the areas where she’ll inject, and then she’ll go right ahead and inject while you keep the area “flexed.” It didn’t take longer than 5, 8 mins tops.

You’ll just leave the clinic with a couple red dots where they injected the product and that’s it. You just can’t lie down or bend down within 6 hours after the shot, and you’re good to go!