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You may need to act your age, but you don’t have to look it. Make a quick trip to RiverView Health to relieve those fine lines and wrinkles that may have snuck up on you.

Rebekah Aakre, APRN, FNP-C, is now offering cosmetic botulinum toxin (Botox) therapy at RiverView’s North Clinic, Crookston.

Over time, a combination of factors can cause facial lines and wrinkles, including the reduction of collagen and damage caused by free radicals from the sun and the environment. Repeated muscle contractions from frowning, squinting, or raising eyebrows cause skin to furrow and fold, gradually resulting in the formation of facial lines. Botox injections can help make frown lines and wrinkles temporarily look better.

Botox therapy works beneath the surface and temporarily reduces the underlying muscle activity that causes moderate to severe lines and wrinkles in adults – to help them look visibly smoother. Aakre injects Botox with a micro-needle into the muscle(s) or areas in which the patient wants to improve, most commonly the glabella region (between the eyebrows and above the nose), forehead, and crow’s feet.

Some patients receiving Botox report the injections feel like a pinch. You may begin to notice a visible smoothing of lines within 24 to 48 hours, with results lasting up to three months.

Aakre offers free consultations at RiverView Health. If she and the patient agree that Botox is appropriate, she may give the Botox injections at the same appointment. The treatment only takes about 10 minutes, with minimal downtime for the patient.

The cost of Botox per unit is $12. According to Aakre, on average, a patient needs 20-30 units.

If you are interested in cosmetic Botox therapy, call 218-281-9595 to make an appointment with Aakre.