Xeomin: For when nothing else works
Xeomin’s arrival in Manila exclusively at The Aivee Clinics has me fielding questions of which neurotoxin muscle relaxant is superior since its launch last week and here’s the answer — it’s not a question of one being better than the other. The Aivee Group CEO Dr. Z Teo analogizes it best: “Now you have two designer shoes to wear. You have Gucci, you have Fendi. If you don’t want to wear Fendi, you can wear Gucci. I want Xeomin in Aivee Clinic because I want the Aivee doctors to have Gucci and Fendi.”
Cosmetic applications of neurotoxin muscle relaxants include relaxing the appearance of moderate to severe wrinkles to alleviating bruxism, aka teeth-grinding. “I grind my teeth every night. I think it’s common among intense, Type A people,” shares Z. He discovered the German brand for personal use in his Singapore clinic after developing resistance to another form of neurotoxin muscle relaxant.
It is also the quickest, minimallyinvasive way to get a “smaller face” and a defined, V-shaped jawline. How does injecting one tiny spot that is only as painless as an ant bite — without anesthesia — even work? Artist Marc Salamat’s oil on canvas painting “Silent Happiness” at The A Institute illustrates facial anatomy and how the face is divided into interconnected muscles. Injection must be done carefully — and tastefully — so that temporarily stopping muscle contractions in one area can be done without restricting your expressions. The goal is to look more youthful and rested.
Merz Pharmaceuticals’ Xeomin is an amalgamation of three words. Xeno is synonymous to foreign; neo to newness; and min is taken from “minimal.” Its active ingredient incobotaliniumtoxinA, is “a pure molecule,” says The Aivee Group’s Dr. Henry Claravall. “They don’t have the barrier protein that sometimes develops a form of immune system resistance like antibiotics. Before, they thought the attaching barrier protein would protect the main molecule — that if you inject it into a certain area, that area might destroy the main active ingredient. They found out after many studies that it isn’t true — that you can get the same effect when it’s pure.”
The Aivee Clinics have a special way of injecting it that feels painless. You’ll see results in five to seven days but, because it’s a pure molecule, others like event guest Cat Arambulo-Antonio saw it within two to three days. Since it was approved by the FDA in 2005 for noncosmetic use like paralysis, spastic muscles, or even excessive sweating of the armpits and hands and in 2009 for cosmetic use, the results last for four to six months and, because it doesn’t have protein barriers unlike its predecessor onabotaliniumtoxinA, it’s not known to develop resistance.
“I make patients take a break from all botulinum toxin for at least six months and then I reboot it with Xeomin,” Z says. “Patients who tried it in Singapore say it gives them a softer feel. What we are happy about is now we have a choice.”
* * *
Ask for Xeomin at The Aivee Clinics. Contact 573-1420, 09177283838, or email info@aivee.ph for inquiries or to set an appointment. Visit aivee.ph, The Aivee Clinic on Facebook, and @TheAiveeClinic on Instagram and Twitter for updates.