The Do’s and Don’t of Injectables on Dr. Jeffrey Roth’s Looking Good Feeling Great Podcast EP05 – S04 It’s important to have a medical check before using injectables such as Botox and/or fillers. As with any procedure you need to make sure you’re healthy enough for this type of intervention. Dr Roth is always checking for what is termed “The Big 3” infection and anaesthesia complications – they’re: bleeding, such as bruising which can be precipitated by some medications, as well as some non-medical substances such as fish oil or St. Johns Warts. Many cultures have a tradition of taking certain herbal based medicine from their practitioner, this can clash with modern injectables. Dr Roth also will check with the patient if they have used or are using a dental block, also known as a regional anaesthesia or a nerve blocker which is to numb the alveolar nerve. Finally, infections. It’s always important to talk with the patient asking about their skin. Making a visual check and asking if they may have had any recent skin infections. Often people ask if they can get infections from either Botox or other approved fillers – this is very rare. In over 25 years of medical practice, Dr Roth has only ever seen two patients with a slight reddening of the skin around the injection point and with a short course of antibiotics they have been fine, and have reported no discomfort or post-injection problems. There is a Botox cosmetic and a Botox therapeutic, more for headaches and a group of muscles to help with muscle spasms. Dr Roth does the Botox cosmetic injectables himself at his plastic surgery in Las Vegas. It takes about four days for the Botox and Dysport to work. Dr Roth talks about what he terms as the “No-Fly Zone” an area of the face in which you don’t inject any filler because there is a muscle there called the “Lavida val pee brain” which is an essential muscle to open your eyelid. Botox typically lasts about four months, although people that are facially expressive, it may not last as long. Fillers, like Botox can be dangerous if applied into a vessel and or an artery you can get problems such as to the eye which could cause blindness. Therefore, it’s important to use a certified professional with previous medical experience. Dr Roth acknowledges, if he cannot do something he refers it to the trained expert that can. Some fillers can last up to two years. But big molecule fillers aren’t always best around superficial areas as you get an effect known as the “Tyndall effect” which creates a greyish or blueish look under the skin. Ultimately, looking after your skin from a young age is the best option and when you go out in the sun for any extended period wear great sunscreen such as the sunscreen product that took Dr Roth 17 years to perfect. You can go to his website to order it directly, and interestingly the product has a really easy name to remember -“Really Great Sunscreen”!