Creating a more youthful you.

Milwaukee, WI 53211
414-964-5438

About Wrinkle Reduction Techniques

Wrinkle reduction is the art of minimizing or eliminating lines on the face and neck. Different products are used for different effects, depending on the results you want. Products used not only include Botox®, Sculptra®, Restylane®, and Juvéderm®, but you can also use your own tissue using fat transfer.

What Botox is and how it differs

Botox is a purified inactivated Botulinum toxin which is commercially prepared by Allergan, USA. Injected in small amounts into areas of overactive muscles in the face and neck, this product can give patients a more relaxed appearance with a dramatic lessening of wrinkles and folds.

In fact, Dr. Krausen began using Botox for control and improvement of facial wrinkles when it was first FDA approved for the use in frown lines between the brows in 1994. He does all of the injections himself because there is a real art form to rejuvenating the face with the accurate placement of the correct number of units of Botox for each area of the face and neck.

Botox can be used on anyone of any age. The most common areas for use are the frown lines between the eyes, the deep "wagon-wheel" ruts in the forehead, and the crow's feet lines that are etched into the corners of the eyes. Botox can also be used to reduce the downturn of the corner of the mouth and the neck cords beneath the chin. It is important to a skilled, artistic hand with Botox to achieve the right results and avoid unpleasant or drooping side effects.

There is no downtime with Botox. You can get injections over your lunch hour and return to work immediately. Dr. Krausen's technique is as gentle as possible, taking the time to use a topical anesthesia and the smallest commercially available needles to minimize the risk of bruising and discomfort. There is generally little or no bruising.

The usual duration of improvement with Botox is 3-4 months. Some people experience a longer duration of improvement.

Pricing is by the number of units utilized versus by the area. Frequent frowner discounts are available to return patients.

What fillers are and how they differ

Wrinkle reduction can be achieved by the artistic use of fillers when Botox is not enough. For some patients, such as smokers or people who have squinted for years in bright sun or strong "eye" smilers, the fat beneath the skin's surface has been worn away and broken down over time. In those situations, there are folds and lines that have been etched into the facial skin that decreased muscle activity doesn't correct. It's that loss of fat on the under surface of the skin that leads to the deep grooves between the eyes, the parentheses around the mouth, and the marionette-type folds around the lower mouth extending down to the chin that need replenishing and volume under the skin to correct. That is where fillers come into play.

During the past ten years, we've witnessed a golden decade for these fillers being made available. When used artistically and with a lot of patient input, you can have a more refreshed look with no or minimal downtime.

Before you and Dr. Krausen embark on the use of any fillers, a session with an advanced computer imaging system is conducted. That enables both you and Dr. Krausen to meticulously plan out on the computer screen exactly what kind of filler is recommended and the volume or game plan for improving the different areas of your face. That way, a very precise tailored program can be setup in a very individualized way. Remember - you want to look like a refreshed, rested you -- thereby avoiding a distorted appearance.

You can have beautifully rejuvenated natural looking lips and avoid the lumps and hyper-inflated look that unfortunately is seen on too many celebrities and in magazines and on television. The object is a natural corrected rejuvenated look, not something that screams out, "I had too much work done."

With that in mind and with all the choices listed below, we should be able to find something that will get you a great-looking result with the understanding that not all fillers are created equally. Some are used for deeper beneath the skin and some that we choose to offer at The Skin Center of Wisconsin have longer or shorter periods of effectiveness and duration of correction to be anticipated.

Restylane®

Restylane is a wonderful filler for use on the under-surface of the skin and red border of the lips. The advantage is that it can be injected into a very thin needle or canula. Dr. Krausen has a special technique which limits the number of injection sites for lips and smile lines. This is the filler of choice for the fine lines that smokers and sun goddesses develop around the lips and mouth. Topical and regional local anesthetic greatly diminish the discomfort that patients have from the injections.

Restylane was the first of the hyaluronic acids gel fillers to be made available in the United States. It has been used in Europe since the mid-1990s. For most patients, correction with Restylane will last 5-9 months.

Juvéderm Ultra® & Juvéderm Ultra Plus®

These two products from Juvéderm are slightly thicker hyaluronic acid gels than Restylane. Their greatest use is for developing volume in deeply lined areas like the smile lines from the nose to the lip or the lines that run from the lip to the chin. \

Thicker gels like Juvéderm usually provide greater duration, around 9-12 months. For patients who have extremely thin lips, Dr. Krausen may recommend Juvederm in combination with Restylane. In these cases, the added volume by Juvederm is really necessary to establish a foundation over which a thinner filler such as Restylane can be used. In this way, a new fuller lipline can be artistically created without looking overdone. As with all fillers, Dr. Krausen's liberal use of topical and regional local anesthetic greatly diminishes discomfort.

Sculptra®

One of the newest and really exciting off-the-shelf fillers is Sculptra. Sculptra is an outstanding advance in creating volume for the face, the decollete area of the neck, as well as the hands. In certain situations, patients are candidates for a "liquid facelift". The liquid facelift is achieved through the gradual build-up of volume using Sculptra and the hyaluronic acid fillers for the natural looking fullness of youth.

Sculptra is provided in a micronized particle vial of material which is diluted in a mixture of sterile water and an injectable local anesthetic. When it is injected artistically in areas that have lost the fullness of youth -- such as the cheekbones, the chin, the jawline, or the lower rims of the eye sockets -- volume is created that takes 10-15 years off of your appearance. The micro particles in Sculptra are recognized by our bodies and our bodies react by producing fibrous tissue around each of the particles. The result is a gradual build-up of volume that creates dramatic results.

Typically, patients who need a significant amount of volume will have 2-3 treatment sessions spaced out 4-6 weeks apart. Once good correction has been achieved, the results last 2-3 years. Touchup sessions tend to then be on an annual or bi-annual program.

With special techniques that Dr K has developed, downtime is not an issue. With this newer technique, you can avoid the side effects of bruising.

Fat Transfer

There are definite advantages to using your own fat to restore the fullness of youth to your face. Fat transfer is where fat is gently harvested from areas of the body where you wouldn't mind giving some up. That fat can then be used to recreate the fullness of youth on your facial features with an anticipated duration of 5-7 years.

During fat transfer, fat is delicately harvested with either the Body-Jet or it can be removed using small canulas and hand-held syringes. After your fat has been purified by a special technique, it is immediately reinjected with micro-canulas to any part of the facial anatomy to create cheekbones, jawlines, chin volume, and even lip volume where time or inherited underdevelopment has created a need.

For some patients, even though the harvesting requires a visit to the operating room, this may fit in well with Body-Jet contouring as well as offering the advantage of greater longevity of correction.

The use of fat harvested from your body offers wonderful possibilities for buttocks and breast enhancement as well as the correction of uneven surfaces created by over-aggressive liposuction by using the older techniques.

Call Dr. Krausen at The Skin Center of Wisconsin and ask about Laser LipoTherme today at 414-964-5438 or email us.