Botox for New Castle, NY

Three windows in a Chappaqua week

The injections themselves take about 10 to 15 minutes, so for most people in New Castle the question is not whether there is time for Botox but which part of the week to give it. Three slots tend to work well.

• Between drop-off and pick-up. A school morning at Roaring Brook, Westorchard or Grafflin leaves room for the drive, the treatment and the drive home. Bellava opens at 9 am every weekday.
• After the train. Chappaqua’s station is on Metro-North’s Harlem Line, and Bellava stays open until 7 pm on Mondays and Thursdays.
• Saturday morning, between 10 am and 2 pm.

From central Chappaqua the trip is about nine miles and roughly 15 minutes without traffic: Route 120 and Quaker Road out to the Saw Mill River Parkway, north as far as the Harris Road exit, then a short stretch of Route 117 to 182 Route 117 Bypass Road in Bedford Hills.

What to tell your injector

A plan is drawn from what you say and what your injector sees as your face moves, so it helps to arrive having thought about four things.

• The lines that bother you most: the frown lines between the brows, crow’s feet, the creases across the forehead, the bunny lines on the nose or the bands in the neck.
• Your medical history, which is reviewed before anything is injected.
• Pregnancy or breastfeeding. Bellava advises leaving Botox until afterwards as a precaution.
• Any date you are working towards. The muscle starts to relax 3 to 10 days after treatment and the full effect arrives at about two weeks, so count back from the occasion.

Who places the injections

Every injectable at Bellava is physician-led. The team is led by the medical director, Donna D’Alessio, MD, board certified in Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, and nurse injectors Grace Jacildo, BSN, RN and Nicole Cardwell, FNP-BC work to the standard she sets. Dr. D’Alessio’s page and Nicole’s both list Chappaqua among the places they serve. Bellava also offers ultrasound guidance, which its Botox page credits with adding safety and precision.

What Botox will not do

Botox quiets a muscle. It does not add volume, lift sagging tissue or resurface the skin, and Bellava’s own comparison points elsewhere for each of those:

• Folds left by lost volume answer to dermal fillers, and many patients have both.
• Texture and tone are better served by laser treatment or microneedling, either of which can be combined with Botox.
• Skin and muscle that have dropped are a matter for a facelift, which board-certified plastic surgeon Chang Soo Kim, MD, performs in the same building, though surgery cannot stop expression lines from forming again.

New Castle patients ask

Does insurance ever pay for Botox? Bellava’s page notes that insurance covers it for some medical uses, eye spasms among them. Softening expression lines is cosmetic, so most patients look at financing such as CareCredit instead.

What might I notice afterwards? Possibly slight swelling, redness or a small bruise where the needle went in, usually gone within a few days. You can carry on with your day as soon as you leave.

How long will it last? About three to four months, after which a maintenance treatment keeps the smoother look going.

How do I book? Press Book Now to choose a time online, or book a consultation first if you would rather talk it over.