To Inject or Not to Inject: Botox During COVID-19
I pulled into the two-story business center, dotted with cars. Allison Macdonald RN MS texted me explicit instructions for my arrival. She said, “Text me when you get to the parking lot and I will text you when to come up so you’re not in the waiting room. I sanitize between patients. Wear a mask in the building and take the stairwell up instead of the elevator to avoid the office downstairs; abundance of caution, but good to do.” Macdonald greeted me at the top of the stairs in the empty waiting area with a No-touch infrared thermometer in hand. She escorted me through the office, into a room with a patient exam table, covered in the thin protective paper. Her eyes welcomed me from behind her N-95 mask.
The walls were adorned with laminated images of pregnant wombs. Macdonald spoke to me for several minutes as she watched for facial expressions. Her focus allows her to determine where each injection should go, to not inhibit any expression. We discussed placement and pricing and concluded that my eyes could use a little attention as well. Macdonald mixed the 40 units of Geuveau in front of me with her gloved hands. She prepped my face with a small freezer pack to numb the injection sites. The pop of each injection as it crossed the barrier of my flesh was a new experience, painless and swift.
COVID-19 has changed the beauty industry, closing salons, dental offices, cosmetic surgery centers, and Botox aesthetician offices. The past three months of this pandemic have erased the once smooth lines from Botox, allowing fine lines and wrinkles to fracture the smooth foreheads of former clients. Macdonald runs a small business out of her husband, Dr. Rodney Dourron’s OB/GYN office on Buford Highway called Allison’s Aesthetics. Macdonald trained at the Esthetic Skin Institute in Fort Lauderdale Florida 17 years ago. As a hairstylist in Atlanta, I have watched the various stages of desperation from clients pining to get an appointment but have watched the clientele base dwindle down to about a third of what it used to be before COVID-19. But those who couldn’t wait any longer were first in line to get their services done.
Months of wearing a mask, showing the eyes and forehead have drawn my focus to the lines that crease my forehead. The debate on whether to get Botox or not ended as I watched my coworker, Mint Salon’s aesthetician, 48-year-old Sejal Gunderia return to work with a smooth forehead. Her eyes sparkled from behind her mask as she greets each client. I wanted what she had. Gunderia says, “During COVID-19 I couldn’t maintain my appearance. It’s hard to feel good when you’re stuck at home with kids, alone, and you haven’t been able to treat yourself.” My personal debate on whether I should start a Botox regiment ended and I called Macdonald to book my appointment.
Macdonald says, “It’s a personal choice for people. It’s a reminder that you’re getting older and people don’t want that.” Aging is a consequence of life, for the lucky, but how we age is up to us.
COVID-19 has changed some people’s beauty regiment. Katie Intner of Harper’s Bazaar says, “Your derm’s office may be the first place you want to visit once quarantine is lifted, but there are a few COVID-19 specific caveats to know before scheduling your next injectable appointment.” These regulations are determined by OSHA and guidelines by the CDC to reopen businesses. “I was off for two months because my business is nonessential. It took me a week to reopen. I have to follow OSHA standards, especially because I am in a doctor’s office,” says Macdonald.
But there are some who aren’t ready to return to their beauty providers. Hairstylist Franklin Robison says, “Before this year, it was something I maintained. I had it done twice a year, but now it’s because of money.” The financial demands of a reliable aesthetician have inhibited many from returning to their former beauty regiments. There are, however, some who are still fearful of being near their beauty provider, but Robison says, “A doctor’s office is pretty sterile. I don’t feel that there’s anything to be concerned about because it’s not sick people going to see the doctor.” Macdonald’s practice in an OB/GYN office, not in urgent care or typical medical office.
As COVID-19 continues its presence in our country, our eyes and foreheads will remain the revealed portion of our faces. The look of a fresh and rested upper face may be the only look we get from one another after a visit to Macdonald’s practice. It’s been a week since my appointment with Macdonald and my face looks as fresh as it did when I was in my early 30s.
