Botox & Dysport for Totowa, NJ

Try this in a mirror before you book

A neurotoxin only helps one kind of line, and you can get a rough idea of which kind you have at home. Stand at a mirror in good light and make three faces, holding each for a second or two:

• Raise your eyebrows as if surprised. Lines that run across the forehead are the work of the frontalis, the muscle that lifts the brows.
• Frown as if you are concentrating. Upright creases between the brows, the “11s,” are drawn in by two small muscles, the corrugator and the procerus.
• Smile hard enough to squint. The fan at the outer corner of each eye belongs to the orbicularis oculi, the ring of muscle that closes the eye.

Then let your whole face go slack. A line that disappears the moment you stop moving is a dynamic wrinkle, and that is what Botox and Dysport are made for. A crease still sitting there at rest usually points to lost volume, which is a job for dermal fillers. Plenty of faces show some of each, and your injector will look again in person before anything is planned.

What the injections change, and what they leave alone

Botox and Dysport are both FDA-approved forms of botulinum toxin type A. Each one stops a targeted muscle from receiving the nerve signal that makes it contract, so the skin on top lies flatter while the muscles around it carry on as usual. Your expressions stay your own. Where each injection goes depends on the shape of your face and how hard each muscle pulls, which is why two people with similar-looking lines can be treated quite differently.

Who holds the syringe

Injections are given by Dr. Donna D’Alessio, MD, the founder of the practice, who is board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, or by nurse practitioners Amy Natalicchio and Tanya Santoro, who work to the standard she sets. Amy came to injectables from cosmetic dermatology, while Tanya’s clinical background spans emergency medicine, cardiology and primary care.

Up Route 23 from Totowa

Take Route 46 west to Route 23 north, then Mountainview Boulevard onto Route 202, which runs through Lincoln Park and turns into Main Road in Towaco. Our office is at number 624, about eight and a half miles and roughly 15 minutes from the middle of the borough without traffic.

Totowa patients ask

Will I need numbing? Rarely. The needle is very fine, each point feels like a quick pinch, and treatment usually goes ahead with little or no anesthetic.

What should I avoid on the day? Leave the treated area unrubbed and unmassaged for 24 hours. There is no downtime beyond that, and an ice pack helps with any minor swelling.

Will the lines come back? Gradually. Over roughly three to four months your body breaks the product down and the muscle regains its movement, and that is when most people return. Leave at least three months between touch-ups.

My jaw aches from clenching. Is that the same treatment? The same family of product, but a separate assessment aimed at the jaw muscles: see TMJ treatment. Frequent migraines and heavy underarm sweating have pages of their own, Botox for chronic migraines and Botox for hyperhidrosis.

Can I come on a Saturday? Yes, between 9 and 1. Tuesday appointments run later, until 7 in the evening.

Photos of the practice’s neurotoxin work are on the before & after page, and every detail of the treatment is on our Botox and Dysport page.

Book NowCall (973) 794-3958Text (973) 834-7074