Injectable · movement lines
Neuromodulator Treatment
A prescription muscle relaxant, placed in specific muscles so the skin over them creases less when you move. It softens the lines your face makes. It does not fill a line that is already there when your face is still.
- Minutes
- 15–30
- Days to show
- 3–7
- Months
- 3–4
What it does
A neuromodulator interrupts the signal from nerve to muscle for a while. The muscle contracts less, so the skin folded by that contraction folds less, and the line softens. Which muscles, and how much in each, is the whole of the treatment — the same total dose can read as rested or as stiff depending on where it goes. We would rather start low and add at your two-week review than take a strong dose back, because taking it back is not an option. Treatment and the two-week review both happen at our North Vancouver clinic, which is why starting low costs you nothing but a second short visit.
Movement lines, specifically
Frown, forehead and the lines at the outer eye — the ones that appear when your face moves.
It wears off
Nothing here is fixed in place. If you dislike it, waiting undoes it.
The dose is a decision
You can ask for movement to be kept. Say so before we start, not afterwards.
Usually a good fit
- Lines that appear when you frown, raise your brows or smile
- You want the muscle to move less, rather than the face to be filled
- You can come back at two weeks so the dose can be adjusted
- You understand it fades and has to be repeated
Usually not
- Lines etched into the skin at rest — those need a different conversation
- Heaviness that comes from loose skin or lost volume
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding
- A neuromuscular condition, or medication acting on the neuromuscular junction — tell us and we will check
- Infection or active skin disease where the injections would go
Before
- Skip alcohol the night before; it makes bruising more likely
- Tell us about blood thinners, fish oil and anti-inflammatories — do not stop a prescribed medicine without asking whoever prescribed it
- Come without makeup on the area if you can
- Book it two weeks before an event, not two days
On the day
- 01AssessmentYou make a set of expressions while your injector watches which muscles do what, and how strongly.
- 02MappingPoints are marked on the skin and the dose at each one is agreed with you.
- 03InjectionA few injections with a very fine needle. The injecting itself takes minutes.
After
- Stay upright for four hours and leave the gym until tomorrow
- Do not rub or massage the area for the rest of the day
- Small raised marks settle within the hour; a bruise, if you get one, takes a few days
- It starts to show at three to seven days. Judge it at two weeks, and come in if you want it adjusted
What can go wrong
A neuromodulator wears off, which makes most of what follows temporary rather than permanent. That is genuinely the safety net of this treatment, and it is also why we would rather start conservative than correct an overdose you have to wait out.
- Bruising or small bumps at the injection points for a few hours to a few days
- Headache in the first day or two
- A heavy or lowered brow if the forehead is over-relaxed — it wears off, but that is weeks
- A drooping eyelid, uncommon, and again weeks rather than days
- An asymmetric result, which is usually correctable at the two-week review rather than something to live with
- An expression that reads as flatter than you wanted. Tell us at review — it changes the map for next time, and that record is why the next one is planned better
Questions we get
Does it hurt?
A few seconds of small sharp pinches with a very fine needle. Most people need nothing for it. Ask for ice first if you would rather have it.
Will I look frozen?
That is a dose question and it is yours to set. Say at the start how much movement you want to keep. We can begin conservatively and add at the two-week review — adding is easy, removing is waiting.
How long does it last?
Usually three to four months. It tends to be shorter early on and shorter if you train hard, and it varies by person, muscle and dose.
How is it priced?
By the unit, and the number of units follows your muscles rather than a package. You will know the units and the total before anything is injected; the current price per unit is on the booking page.
What if I don't like the result?
It fades — that is the honest safety net of this treatment. Come in and tell us what you disliked so the next map is different. That record is the reason a second treatment goes better than a first.
Can I have filler at the same visit?
Often, yes. They do different jobs and are frequently planned together. Bring a list of what you have had and when.
Is there any downtime?
No recovery period. Small raised marks at the injection points settle within about an hour, and a bruise, if one appears, takes a few days. Staying upright for four hours, leaving the gym until the next day and not rubbing the area are the standard instructions — they are about keeping the product in the muscle it was placed in, not about healing. The effect starts to show at three to seven days.
Book an assessment
Book onlineWho does this
Assessments and treatments at the Lonsdale Avenue clinic in North Vancouver are carried out by MMC’s own clinicians. Who they are, what they trained in and which treatments each of them does is on the team page.
Other treatments here
Everything listed here is offered at the Lonsdale Avenue address in North Vancouver. Names, durations and prices come from the clinic’s live schedule rather than from this page, so what you see is what is bookable today.
- Dermal Filler
- HarmonyCa
- IV TherapyConsultation first
- Injectable Consultation
- Skin Booster
- Thermage
- Ultherapy
Other places people start
These are sorted by what is bothering you rather than by treatment name. Each page says what actually helps, what does not, and when the honest answer is that nothing here is needed.
- Loose Skin After Weight LossLosing the weight is the hard part and you have done it. What is left is usually a skin problem rather than a fat problem, and those have completely different answers.
- Fatigue & Low EnergyThis is the concern where we are least likely to sell you anything, and we would rather say that at the top of the page than at the end of a consultation.
- Dullness & Uneven ToneDullness and dehydration are a texture problem, not a shape problem. That distinction decides which half of the menu is even relevant.
- Volume Loss & HollowsVolume loss is the change people describe as looking tired or gaunt without being able to name a line. It is also the one where over-treatment is most visible from across a room.
- Forehead & Frown LinesForehead and frown lines are muscle before they are skin. The question that decides your result is not the dose — it is whether the line is still only there when you move.
- Hooded Upper LidsThe line where this stops being an injectable question and becomes a surgical one is unusually clear, and you are entitled to be told which side of it you are on.
- Jawline & Contour LossThe most common reason people book here, and the one where the honest answer changes most with age. In your forties a device usually does it. In your sixties it usually does not.
- Nasolabial FoldsNasolabial folds are usually a symptom. Filling the fold itself is the most common way to end up looking heavy in the lower face.
- Stubborn Body FatA pocket that stays the same size while the rest of you changes. Usually the flanks, the lower abdomen, or under the chin. The useful question is not which machine to use — it is whether what you are looking at is fat at all.
- Under-Eye Hollows & ShadowsThe most common request here, and the one where the answer is most often no. Under-eye shadow has at least four causes and filler helps exactly one of them.