Some find temporary fountain of youth in Botox injections.

LANCASTER – Phyllis Haynes said she was so excited about her visit to the doctor Friday that she couldn’t sleep the night before.

Haynes, 51, of Lancaster, had an appointment for what she called a “lunch-break facelift” – a procedure consisting of BOTOX® Cosmetic and Restylane injections to reduce wrinkles on her face and add volume to key areas including her lips.

“I’m at a time in my life where my kids are grown, and I have more time to pamper myself,” Haynes said prior to the procedure.

Dr. Jason Lichten of Central Ohio Plastic Surgery in Lancaster said he sees patients as young as their mid-30s for Botox or Restylane treatments.

“It used to be that most patients would be women,” Lichten said, “but the number of men has increased.”

Botox Cosmetic is a purified protein produced by the Clostridium botulinum bacterium, according to the Web site www.botoxcosmetic.com. It’s the organism that causes the food-poisoning illness known as botulism.

Botox smoothes and softens wrinkled areas of the face by blocking a neurotransmitter called acetylcholine from sending information to muscles telling them to contract.

The treated muscles then relax, reducing what Lichten calls static and dynamic wrinkles.

Restylane is made of a non-animal-based substance known as hyaluronic acid that adds fullness to the skin and reduces wrinkles and folds.

Both treatments are injected into targeted areas of the face that a patient wishes to change. The treatments last between four and six months. The cost of the treatments is determined by the amount of Botox or Restylane used.

Haynes’ treatment began Friday during a review with Lichten about the areas she wanted treated. Haynes wanted to eliminate or reduce lines around her mouth, between her eyes and on her forehead. She also wanted to have the “crows feet” wrinkles around her eyes reduced.

Once the target areas were determined, Dr. Lichten administered lidocaine cream and injections, as well as ice packs, to numb Haynes’ face.

As soon as Haynes’ face was numb and the Restylane was injected, the effects started to show. Lines that were visible on Hayne’s face a half-hour earlier were gone, and her lips took on a fuller appearance.

The Botox procedure also was quick, but weren’t visible quite as soon. The full change brought on by the Botox takes several days to show.

Once the procedure was complete, Haynes was able to go back to work.

Haynes said she and her friends always talked about having cosmetic work done, but nobody had taken the first step. She didn’t tell anyone she was having the procedure. She planned instead to surprise them and possibly encourage them to do the same.

“I hope this will let people know it is OK to care about yourself and your appearance,” Haynes said.