Reviewed 28 Sep 2026 · Updated 9 Nov 2026 · Dr Ong Jin Khang · MMC 45245 · LCP holder · The Retreat Clinic, Setia Alam
Anti-wrinkle injections use botulinum toxin, a prescription medicine, to soften the action of specific muscles. Where a line is being formed by repeated expression, easing the muscle behind it lets the skin settle, and the line softens while the face keeps moving. The same principle slims a square jawline by relaxing the masseter muscle.
It suits expression lines such as the frown line, forehead lines and crow's feet, and a strong masseter along the jaw. It does not fill volume or lift skin that has already descended.
The procedure takes about fifteen to twenty minutes with no downtime. Effect begins in three to five days, is fully developed by about two weeks, and fades over three to four months, at which point the face returns to its baseline.
Restraint is the difference between considered and obvious.
At a glance
Anti-wrinkle injections, in six answers.
What it is
Botulinum toxin, a prescription medicine, injected to rest a specific muscle.
Who it suits
Expression lines such as the frown line, forehead lines and crow's feet, and a strong masseter along the jaw.
Not lost volume, or skin that has already descended.
Sessions
One
A single treatment, repeated as the effect fades rather than sold as a course.
Downtime
None
About fifteen to twenty minutes, then a few hours without heavy exercise or lying flat.
Performed by
Dr Ong
Dosed and given by him, mapped to how your face moves, after assessment.
Timeline
Three to five daysThe effect begins to show
About two weeksFully developed
Three to four monthsIt fades, and the face returns to its baseline
How it works
Easing the muscle behind the line.
Easing the muscle behind a line lets the skin settle, and the line softens while the face keeps moving.
0103
01
The signal is blocked
Botulinum toxin blocks the signal that tells a specific muscle to contract.
02
The muscle rests
The repeated folding of the skin above it stops, and a line that was being pressed in by movement begins to soften.
03
It fades by design
The effect fades over three to four months as the nerve signal returns and the muscle resumes its work.
Who it suits
Who it is for, and who it is not.
Sorting these cases out is what the assessment is for, and it happens before treatment rather than after.
Where it fits
Expression lines that show with movement: the frown line, forehead lines and crow's feet.
A strong masseter along the jaw, to soften a square jawline.
Lines made by repeated expression, where easing the muscle lets the skin settle.
Some patients also find that night-time clenching and grinding eases.
Where it does not
A tired look that comes from volume loss or skin quality.
A deep static crease a patient hopes to see erased.
A lasting one-time fix, from a medicine that wears off by design.
Pregnancy or breastfeeding, a neuromuscular condition such as myasthenia gravis, a previous reaction to botulinum toxin, or an active infection at the site.
Compare
Three injectables, three jobs.
Both are injectable and both soften an ageing face, but each is answering a different question, and the assessment is where the actual question gets identified.
The skin itself: hydration, surface texture and the way skin holds light
How
A fine grid of small deposits across the area
Suits
Skin that looks tired or dehydrated, fine dryness lines, crepey skin on the neck
The change
Builds gradually across a course of two to three sessions
Will not
Shape, lift or fill
The full read
Anti-wrinkle injections, in full.
Who performs anti-wrinkle injections here
At The Retreat Clinic, Dr Ong Jin Khang (MMC 45245, LCP for aesthetic practice from the Ministry of Health) has been the only doctor since the clinic opened in Setia Alam in April 2013. He doses and gives every anti-wrinkle injection at the clinic himself, mapped to how the face moves once he has watched it in motion. He has performed anti-wrinkle injections since 2011, and the clinic has offered the treatment since it opened in 2013. He has served as a key opinion leader for Botox for Allergan, its maker, and has spoken for Allergan on botulinum toxin. His registration and LCP can be checked on the public registers: how to check them.
What it is
Botulinum toxin, the active ingredient in anti-wrinkle injections, blocks the signal that tells a specific muscle to contract. The muscle rests, the repeated folding of the skin above it stops, and a line that was being pressed in by movement begins to soften. The effect is temporary by design, fading over three to four months as the nerve signal returns and the muscle resumes its work.
This is a prescription medicine, given by a doctor after an evaluation of your health and your face. Several branded versions are available, and in skilled hands they are largely interchangeable. What separates one result from another is the map: which muscles are treated, at which points, with how much. The vial is the smallest variable in the room.
What it does well
Its natural territory is the expression lines that show with movement. The frown line between the brows, the horizontal lines across the forehead, and the crow's feet at the outer corners of the eyes are all made the same way: a muscle contracts, the skin folds, and years of repetition press the fold deeper until it stays. Easing that muscle interrupts the process and gives the skin its chance to settle.
The same injections, known as jaw Botox (masseter injections), slim the masseter muscle along the jaw. A strong masseter widens the lower face, and relaxing it lets the muscle reduce gradually, softening a square jawline. For some patients it also eases the clenching and grinding they do at night, a functional benefit that arrives alongside the cosmetic one.
Treated with restraint, the result reads as a face on a good day. The lines soften, the expressions stay, and nobody can place what changed. That is the standard the dose is set against, which is why a first treatment here is often smaller than the patient expected, with more added later only if the face shows it needs it.
What it does not do, and who it is not for
Anti-wrinkle injections do not fill volume, and they do not lift skin that has descended. A line that sits there at rest, with no movement behind it, has already been pressed into the tissue. Relaxing the muscle softens the repetition, but it cannot erase what time has already written. Those are different problems with different answers, and asking botulinum toxin to solve them wastes both the tool and the money.
When a patient comes in asking whether this treatment will address what they are seeing in the mirror, the most useful thing I can do is be precise about what it can and cannot move.
It is the wrong treatment for the patient whose tired look comes from volume loss or skin quality, for the deep static crease a patient hopes to see erased, and for anyone expecting a lasting one-time fix from a medicine that wears off by design. It is also the wrong answer for a naturally full young face asking to be slimmed; often the honest recommendation there is nothing at all. Sorting these cases out is what the assessment is for, and it happens before treatment rather than after.
There are also standard medical exclusions. We do not treat during pregnancy or while breastfeeding, in anyone with a neuromuscular condition such as myasthenia gravis, where there has been a previous reaction to botulinum toxin, or through skin with an active infection at the treatment site. The assessment screens for these before any dose is drawn up.
Our view
The frozen look that gets associated with this treatment comes from too much product, or product placed in the wrong site. The treatment itself does not cause it. A measured dose, mapped to how your face actually moves, softens the line while leaving the expression intact. Restraint is most of the skill, and the brand on the vial matters far less than the marketing suggests.
Much of the industry doses from a menu: standard areas, standard units, one appointment. A menu is efficient, and it is also how foreheads end up heavy and smiles stop short of the eyes. At The Retreat Clinic in Setia Alam, Dr Ong watches the face move before deciding where the dose goes, because no two faces recruit their muscles the same way. Sometimes the outcome of that assessment is a smaller treatment than the patient came in for. Occasionally it is none.
Practical notes
The procedure takes about fifteen to twenty minutes, and there is no downtime, though we ask patients to avoid heavy exercise and lying flat for a few hours afterwards. The effect begins to show in three to five days and is fully developed by about two weeks. Jawline slimming builds more gradually, over the weeks that follow, as the muscle itself reduces.
The effect fades over three to four months as the nerve signal returns, and repeat timing is planned around how your muscles respond rather than a fixed calendar. When it wears off, the face returns to its baseline. Nothing rebounds, and nothing is made worse by stopping.
What this treatment is not, and where dermal filler sits instead
Anti-wrinkle injections are not a volumising treatment, and they are not interchangeable with dermal fillers. The two are often asked about in the same breath, because both are injectable and both soften an ageing face, but the mechanism is entirely different. Botulinum toxin quietens a muscle so it stops folding the skin above it. Filler adds structure where the face has lost it. A hollow cheek is not helped by relaxing a muscle, and a static line pressed into the skin at rest is not fully solved by either alone; each is answering a different question, and the assessment is where the actual question gets identified. The other wrinkle treatments, and which line each one fits, are set out on their own page.
It is also not a general contouring treatment. It slims the lower face only by reducing a strong masseter muscle, and it does nothing to cheek fat, jaw bone structure, or skin laxity along the jawline. Where the real cause of a heavy lower face is one of those instead, the honest recommendation is a different treatment, or a referral, rather than a course of injections that were never going to reach the actual cause.
Side effects
Most side effects are small and settle by themselves: a bruise at an injection point, a short headache, a little unevenness while the treatment finishes taking effect. Bruising comes from the needle, and the toxin itself plays no part. In a 2026 study of 102 adults, 12.7 per cent had a headache, generally mild to moderate and short-lived. The effect takes about two weeks to develop fully, so unevenness in the first days is not yet a verdict.
A drooping upper eyelid is real but uncommon. In a pooled analysis of frown-line trials it affected 1.8 per cent of people given the toxin and none given placebo. It typically appears three to fourteen days after treatment and eases as the toxin wears off, though in a case series of 7 referred patients it lasted from 6 weeks to 13 months, so a droop that is not improving deserves a review. A heavy-eyelid sensation was recorded in 2.5 per cent of people treated for frown lines against 0.3 per cent on placebo. Treating the lower face can change the smile or lips, which lasts about as long as the treatment does. No reliable rate exists for several of these effects. Neuromuscular conditions such as myasthenia gravis are contraindications, so tell the doctor about any.
Call the clinic if an eyelid or brow drops, if the smile or lips feel wrong, or if a headache is severe or not settling. Seek urgent care for trouble swallowing, breathing or speaking, weakness away from the injection site, double vision, eye pain or a change in vision. The full account is in Botox side effects: the common, the rare, and what to do.
Botulinum toxin injections are priced per area, by units, and the unit count follows muscle bulk: a masseter needs more than a frown line. The number for any one person is stated at consultation, once the dose is set. Why two fees for the same area can sit far apart, and what to ask any clinic, are on the cost guide.
The needles are fine and each injection is quick, a small sting that settles in seconds. A full treatment takes about fifteen to twenty minutes, and most patients need no numbing. Briefly uncomfortable is the honest description.
How soon will I see results, and how long does it last?
The effect begins to show in three to five days, is fully developed by about two weeks, then fades over three to four months as the nerve signal returns. Nothing changes on the day of the treatment itself, which surprises some patients. Jawline slimming builds more slowly, over the weeks that follow, because the muscle itself reduces gradually.
Will anti-wrinkle injections make me look frozen?
A frozen face is the sign of overdosing or poor placement, and neither is a property of the treatment itself. A measured dose, mapped to how your face actually moves, softens the line while leaving expression intact. If anything, the right dose is the one nobody else can detect.
What can anti-wrinkle injections treat?
Expression lines that show with movement: the frown line between the brows, forehead lines, and crow's feet at the outer corners of the eyes. The same injections slim the masseter muscle along the jaw, which softens a square jawline and can ease night-time clenching. Lines that sit still at rest, lost volume and descended skin are different problems, and they need different tools.
Can you slim a round face or chubby cheeks?
It depends on what is making the face round. A strong masseter muscle widens the jaw, and relaxing it slims the lower face toward the shape patients often ask for. Fullness under the chin is a contouring conversation, and cheek fat itself is surgical territory, so we refer rather than improvise. A naturally full young face often needs nothing at all, and we will say so.
Will my wrinkles get worse if I stop?
No. When the effect fades, the muscle resumes its normal movement and the face returns to where it would otherwise have been. Nothing rebounds, and nothing is made worse by stopping. You simply lose the softening, and the repeated folding that forms lines carries on as before.
Is botulinum toxin safe?
It has decades of clinical use and a long record at the small doses used for expression lines, with side effects that are usually mild and temporary. It is a prescription medicine, given by a doctor after a proper evaluation. The more meaningful risk is aesthetic: a heavy brow or a frozen look from placement that did not respect your anatomy. That risk is managed by assessment, and the brand on the vial does not manage it for you.
Can I have anti-wrinkle injections while pregnant or breastfeeding?
No. As a standard precaution, botulinum toxin is not given during pregnancy or while breastfeeding. If you are planning a pregnancy, mention it at the assessment and the timing can be planned around it.
How is this different from dermal fillers?
Anti-wrinkle injections relax a muscle to soften a line made by movement. Dermal fillers add volume where the face has lost it. They solve different problems, and the two are sometimes used together, but one is never a substitute for the other. How anti-wrinkle injections actually work covers the mechanism in full.
Does it actually work?
Anti-wrinkle injections work by relaxing the muscle that folds skin into a line, so the effect on expression lines and jawline slimming is consistent and well established. The change becomes visible within three to five days and is fully developed by about two weeks. How well it answers your particular lines is confirmed at assessment rather than promised in advance.
How many sessions will I need?
Anti-wrinkle injections are usually given as a single treatment rather than a course, with the effect fading over three to four months as the nerve signal returns. Repeat timing is then planned around how your muscles have responded, reviewed in person rather than booked to a fixed calendar.
Is it different for Asian skin?
No. Dr Ong's approach to anti-wrinkle injections is the same for Asian skin; the plan follows your own muscles and expressions, not your ethnicity.
Is there a minimum age for this treatment?
Eighteen is the usual age for aesthetic treatment at The Retreat Clinic, but there is no fixed limit: whether a treatment suits someone depends on the reason for it. Anyone under 18 needs a parent or guardian to consent.
Can I have this during Ramadan or while fasting?
Very little about how a treatment behaves changes during Ramadan; what changes is mostly the calendar around the appointment, and the clinic offers evening appointments during the month for patients who prefer them. Whether fasting is observed, and what fasting permits, is a question for you and your own religious guidance, as the clinic offers no religious ruling, and what changes about aesthetic treatment during Ramadan sets it out.
Who performs anti-wrinkle injections at The Retreat Clinic?
Dr Ong Jin Khang performs every anti-wrinkle injection at The Retreat Clinic himself. He has performed anti-wrinkle injections since 2011, and the clinic has offered the treatment since it opened in 2013. He has served as a key opinion leader for Botox for Allergan, its maker, and has spoken for Allergan on botulinum toxin. He has been the clinic's only doctor since it opened in Setia Alam in April 2013; his Malaysian Medical Council registration (MMC 45245) and his Ministry of Health LCP for aesthetic practice can both be checked on public registers.
Disclosure: In 2022 Dr Ong was a key opinion leader for Botox for Allergan, which makes Botox, the Juvéderm range and CoolSculpting, and he has spoken for Allergan on botulinum toxin and at the CoolSculpting launch in Manila (2019). How he thinks about ties like these: The quiet we kept: what shapes what your doctor recommends.
