Anti-wrinkle injections have become a popular solution for maintaining a youthful look. At Face Doctors, we offer a full range of cosmetic injectables such as Botox®, Dysport®, dermal fillers and advanced skin boosters, to help smooth out wrinkles and rejuvenate your skin.

In this guide, we’ll explain what anti-wrinkle injections are, which facial areas can be treated, how they work, and the trusted brands we use. We’ll also touch on complementary treatments like fillers and skin boosters that enhance your results.

Anti-wrinkle injections are non-surgical injectable treatments that reduce facial lines and wrinkles by relaxing the underlying muscles. The most common anti-wrinkle products are Botulinum Toxin Type A formulations – best known by the brand names Botox® and Dysport®.

These injectables are essentially purified proteins that act as muscle relaxants. When injected in tiny amounts into specific facial muscles, they block the nerve signals that tell those muscles to contract. As a result, the muscles relax, and the skin above them smooths out, making wrinkles relax and soften. This treatment is especially effective for “dynamic” wrinkles, which are the lines that form from repetitive facial expressions like frowning or squinting.

Because the injections precisely target the muscles responsible for wrinkles, the surrounding skin looks smoother and more refreshed while the rest of your face retains its normal expressions. Treatment is quick, often just a 5-10 minute procedure, and requires no surgery or downtime, making it a convenient option for busy individuals. In fact, millions of these procedures are performed worldwide each year due to their safety and effectiveness. Results are temporary, so follow-up sessions are needed every few months to maintain the effects. At Face Doctors, our highly trained doctors perform a comprehensive face consultation before any anti-wrinkle treatment to ensure it’s tailored to your unique needs.

Interested in a youthful appearance? Book a consult with our medical team to discuss if anti-wrinkle injections are right for you.

One of the great advantages of anti-wrinkle injections is their versatility in treating multiple facial areas. We commonly use Botox® or Dysport® to address the following concern areas:

Frown Lines: the vertical lines between your eyebrows that appear when you frown or concentrate. Relaxing the tiny muscles in this region can significantly soften a “crinkled” or tense look between the brows.

Forehead Lines: the horizontal “worry lines” that run across your forehead when you raise your eyebrows. Anti-wrinkle injections can smooth these lines while still allowing natural expressions.

Crow’s Feet: the fine lines at the corners of the eyes that become prominent when you smile or squint. Carefully placed injections here help eradicate crow’s feet, frown lines and forehead lines, giving the eye area a more youthful look.

Brow Lift: by targeting specific points in the forehead and brow muscles, we can achieve a subtle eyebrow lift, opening up the eye area. This can help with brow drooping and create a refreshed, well-rested appearance.

Smile Lines & Mouth Corners: anti-wrinkle injections can lift droopy mouth lines. Softeners around the lips can also address smoker’s lines – the fine vertical lines on the upper lip – helping your lipstick stay in place and restoring a smoother lip line. For deeper lines or lip volume, we often use dermal fillers – more on this later.

Chin and Jaw: We can relax the chin’s mentalis muscle to smooth a dimpled chin (often called “chin crease” or orange-peel chin). Additionally, treating the masseter muscles at the jaw can slim the jawline in those who desire a more oval face shape. This jaw slimming technique not only refines your profile but can also alleviate teeth grinding in some cases.

Neck Bands: Vertical neck bands and a saggy neck “turkey neck” appearance can be improved by carefully injecting along the platysma muscle. At Face Doctors, we do use this advanced technique to lift saggy neck skin and redefine the jawline when appropriate.

Each of these areas requires an expert understanding of facial anatomy. Our medical team will assess your face and recommend the specific injection points that will give you the most natural and effective result. The goal is always a refreshed, relaxed look – never a frozen one. By treating the appropriate muscles, we can soften unwanted lines while ensuring you still look like yourself.

Not sure which areas are right for you? Contact Us to learn more. Our doctors are happy to answer your questions or assess your wrinkles in a personal consultation.

Anti-wrinkle injections work by targeting the communication between nerves and muscles. The injected Botox® or Dysport® blocks the nerve impulses that normally tell your facial muscle to contract. Think of it as temporarily “putting the muscle to sleep” in that specific spot. When the muscle relaxes, the skin above it stops creasing, which causes existing wrinkles to smooth out and prevents deeper lines from forming. Best of all you can return to your normal activities immediately after.

When will you see results? Anti-wrinkle injections are not instantaneous, but they work quite quickly. You may start to notice your lines softening in 3 to 5 days, with full results visible at around 7 to 10 days post-treatment. It’s quite exciting to see those frown lines or crow’s feet gradually fade away in the mirror during that first week. The rejuvenating effects last approximately a few months, after which muscle movement slowly returns and wrinkles can reappear.

Safety: Botox® and Dysport® are medically tested and approved prescription medicines in New Zealand for treating facial wrinkles. They have a long track record of safety when administered by trained professionals.

All treatments at Face Doctors are performed by qualified cosmetic physicians or registered nurses under medical supervision. During your initial visit, we will review your medical history and ensure you’re a suitable candidate as certain rare conditions, or pregnancy/breastfeeding, may preclude treatment. Adverse effects are uncommon and we take every measure to keep you comfortable and safe throughout the process.

To get the most out of your anti-wrinkle treatment, follow our aftercare guidance – such as avoiding rubbing the area for a few hours and refraining from intense exercise on the day of treatment. Proper aftercare helps the product work optimally and reduces any minor side effects.

When it comes to anti-wrinkle injections, using trusted, quality brands is essential for both safety and results. At Face Doctors, we primarily use Botox® and Dysport®, two leading brands of botulinum toxin type A that are renowned worldwide. Both are registered in New Zealand for the treatment of facial wrinkles and have been used for many years with excellent results.

Botox® (onabotulinumtoxinA) is the original brand that most people have heard of – it’s practically synonymous with anti-wrinkle treatment. Dysport® (abobotulinumtoxinA) is a similar product that achieves the same outcome of smoothing wrinkles. In fact, Dysport® is very similar to Botox®, just made by a different company.

So, what’s the difference? In our clinical experience at Face Doctors, Dysport tends to have a quicker onset, meaning patients often see the wrinkle-smoothing effect a bit faster. Some studies even suggest Dysport might spread slightly more, which can be advantageous for covering larger areas like the forehead. For this reason, Dysport is our preferred choice for many clients – we love that it works a touch faster to get you glowing sooner!

​However, Botox remains a gold-standard as well, with a very precise action that’s excellent for smaller areas. The good news is we stock both Botox and Dysport, and our experts will discuss which is best for you during your consultation. Often, the choice comes down to individual preference, past experiences, or specific treatment areas. Rest assured, both brands will give you a great result in the hands of our skilled injectors

You may have heard of Xeomin® (incobotulinumtoxinA) – this is another botulinum toxin injection that is very similar to Botox. Face Doctors can provide Xeomin by request or when appropriate. It is a purer form of the toxin with no accessory proteins, which some clients prefer.

While anti-wrinkle muscle-relaxing injections are fantastic for smoothing dynamic wrinkles, they aren’t the only tool in our anti-aging toolkit. Face Doctors offers a full range of appearance medicine treatments to address other aspects of aging, such as volume loss, static wrinkles, and skin quality. Two other popular injectable treatments we provide are dermal fillers and skin boosters:

If you have deeper static wrinkles or areas of the face that have lost volume, dermal fillers are the go-to solution. These are gel-like substances that we inject to replenish volume, lift contours, and fill in creases. For example, fillers can plump up the lips, restore fullness to cheeks, soften lines from the nose to mouth corners, and even fill in acne scars or reshape the chin and jaw. Dermal fillers ​can be used to revolumise, enhance the shape of the face, or lift the face. The most popular areas include lips, cheeks, tear troughs (under-eyes), chin, brows, nasolabial folds, mouth corners, and static wrinkles.

To improve the overall texture, hydration, and elasticity of your skin, we offer innovative injectable treatments known as skin boosters. These are very light, liquid forms of dermal filler or other nourishing solutions designed to be dispersed evenly in the skin for an all-over glow. A great example is Profhilo®, a pure hyaluronic acid injectable that spreads beneath the skin to hydrate from within and stimulate collagen. Another is Teosyal Redensity, a beauty booster treatment which delivers a mix of hyaluronic acid and vitamins directly into the skin tissue using a specialised injector device. Skin boosters are great for treating dehydrated skin, for instance, fine lines on the cheeks or neck that aren’t deep enough to need filler.

By deeply hydrating and plumping the skin, boosters improve skin tone, reduce fine crinkling, and give you a youthful glow. These treatments complement anti-wrinkle injections by tackling the skin quality aspect of aging that toxins alone do not address.

​During your consultation, our team will assess whether you might benefit from fillers or skin boosters in addition to anti-wrinkle injections. Our philosophy is to create a personalised plan that targets wrinkles, restores lost volume, and nourishes your skin, for an all-around rejuvenation. By combining treatments when appropriate, we can achieve results that are balanced and natural!

You will be treated by credentialed cosmetic physicians or nurses who specialise in appearance medicine. All procedures are performed in a safe, clinical environment using the latest techniques and sterile equipment. We stay up-to-date with international best practices and product developments. Our clinic has helped thousands of New Zealanders rejuvenate their look with anti-wrinkle injections, and our 5-star patient reviews speak to the level of care and results we provide.

If you are ready to invest in your skin, we’re here to guide you. Your rejuvenated self is just an appointment away. Book your consultation online or contact us now to take the first step toward smoother, younger-looking skin. We look forward to accompanying you on your anti-aging journey!