“Crow’s Feet” are wrinkles at the sides of the eyes. Caused by repeated muscle movement, they become more prominent when you smile or laugh. Almost everyone gets crow’s feet eventually, but many people feel that these lines make them look older or more tired than they really are. Fortunately, wrinkle treatments can be used to soften crow’s feet, rejuvenating the appearance of the eye area.
Crow's feet treatment
Treating Crow’s Feet
A treatment for crow’s feet using muscle relaxants softens existing lines around the eyes.
It can also prevent new ones from forming by preventing the repeated muscle movements that caused the wrinkles to develop.
Following this non-surgical treatment, many clients find their outer eye area looks rejuvenated and more youthful.
Who Is Suitable For This Treatment?
Candidates for crow’s feet treatments are unhappy with the lines forming around their eyes.
Clients undergoing this treatment usually feel that their crow’s feet make them look tired or older than their true age. They tend to be people in their late 20’s and early 30’s who have begun to notice signs of facial ageing, though treatments can be performed on adults of any age.
This cosmetic procedure is appropriate for most adults who are in good overall health.
What to Expect
A muscle relaxant will be injected into the muscles at the outer corners of the eyes, where the crow’s feet wrinkles have formed. A thin needle is used to deliver the anti-wrinkle product directly into the muscle underneath the crow’s feet. Once injected, it works by relaxing the facial muscles to stop the contractions and movement that causes crow’s feet to form.
This is an in-clinic treatment completed in under an hour. There is no recovery period required. Crow’s feet injections can be a rejuvenation treatment for clients seeking a solution. After the injections, clients can leave the clinic and return to normal activities.
Within 10 days, your crow’s feet will have become less prominent. The injected relaxant blocks signals from the nerves to the muscles, resulting in controlled weakening of the muscles underneath your crow’s feet lines. Because the muscle causing the wrinkles can no longer contract fully, the wrinkles relax, becoming smoother. Clients usually report that their wrinkles become noticeably smoother within just a week of the injections.
The effects of treatment usually last 3-4 months. As the injected muscle relaxant wears off, the wrinkles will return. Many clients undergo regularly scheduled injections to maintain their rejuvenated appearance.
Can You Get Rid Of Crow’s Feet?
Anti-wrinkle injections are the most popular cosmetic treatment to get rid of crow’s feet. The treatment targets the muscle contraction around the eyes that causes crow’s feet to form. Results generally last from 3 to 4 months and usually last longer after each treatment due to the muscles becoming smaller.
Depending on the severity of your crow’s feet, your clinician may recommend additional cosmetic treatments to achieve your desired results.
Dermal fillers can be used in combination with anti-wrinkle injections to re-volumise the area and reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Dermal fillers are a broad-spectrum treatment that can restore volume to the deeper layers of skin and boost collagen production in the skin around the eye area and the rest of the face.
Fractional laser treatments and laser resurfacing can effectively target wrinkles and boost collagen production in the deeper layer of skin for more stubborn crow’s feet and skin concerns.
Do Injections Hurt?
Any treatment involving an injection can cause some discomfort, but anti-wrinkle injections use a small, very fine needle. For most people, the cosmetic procedure involves minimal pain. You may experience a slight pinch, but the procedure is very quick and usually painless.
If you have a low pain threshold, a topical anaesthetic may be applied to the skin before treatment to minimise any discomfort.
Is There Any Downtime?
There is no downtime associated with anti-wrinkle injections for crow’s feet. The non-invasive procedure takes less than 30 minutes to complete at the clinic, and you can immediately return to your normal activities. The skin around the injection sites may feel tender and sore, but this will dissipate within a few hours of the procedure.
What Causes Crow’s Feet?
A range of factors can cause crow’s feet. As the body ages, the repetitive contraction of muscles during facial expressions like smiling causes deep and more noticeable lines around the eye, even with a resting expression. Genetics, sun exposure, and loss of collagen and elastin due to ageing of the skin all contribute to the formation of fine lines.
What Age Do Crow’s Feet Appear?
Most people start to see crow’s feet begin to form in their late 20s and early 30s. As your body ages, collagen and elastin production begins to reduce, and the skin starts to lose its elasticity. This can be particularly noticeable in the delicate skin around your eyes.
Due to the repetitive contraction and movement of the muscles, the eye area is among the first places that fine lines start to form. Lines around your eyes appear when you contract your facial muscles to smile, but these wrinkles develop over time and become visible even when you have a neutral facial expression.
How Do You Prevent Crow’s Feet?
Crow’s feet appear as part of the natural ageing process, but certain things can help to prevent fine lines from forming and keep you looking younger for longer.
Anti-wrinkle injections can be used as a preventative treatment to stop the lines around your eyes from forming. A tiny injection of a neuromodulator can relax the overactive muscles that cause crow’s feet to develop and prevent lines and wrinkles from becoming deeper and more noticeable.
Certain lifestyle choices can also help to prevent ageing of the skin and improve your overall health. Ensure you get plenty of exercise, eat a diet of healthy fruits and vegetables to protect the skin from free radicals, and avoid excessive alcohol consumption and smoking.
Use a high SPF sunscreen to prevent sun damage to the skin, and wear sunglasses to avoid squinting during sun exposure. The sun’s powerful UV rays damage and break down the collagen and elastin in the skin tissue and accelerate the ageing process.
A good skincare regime can help to improve the condition of the skin around the eyes. Eye cream and moisturisers containing vitamin C can help to fight free radicals damage to the skin. You can also use eye creams and beauty serums containing collagen as part of your daily skin routine.
Possible Risks and Complications
After a crow’s feet treatment, side effects such as skin redness, swelling, and minor tenderness are common. Bruises may also form at the injection site. Such effects usually dissipate within a few days and can be camouflaged with make-up.
Avoid lying down for 4 hours after the treatment, and don’t touch or rub the area and skin around your eyes for 12 hours. Either of these activities can cause the injected relaxant to affect surrounding muscles. Serious complications are rare but can include infection and long-term numbness or tingling in the treated area.
How Much Do Crow’s Feet Injections Cost?
To find out more about the costs involved in wrinkle treatments, schedule a consultation visit today.
