Botox is safe when done properly. Proper treatment to minimize side effects or other adverse reactions is both the responsibility of the provider and the patient.
The provider must acquire skill and knowledge in providing injections. Our injectors provide complimentary consultations to all patients prior to treatment, and begin very conservatively to achieve treatment goals.
Patients can reduce their risk of side effects or adverse reactions by avoiding substances such as alcohol, green tea, and vitamin E prior to treatment, as well as limiting work outs (as your metabolism can break down the product) and avoiding touching the injection site as the product settles in. (Sanjiv Kumar, MD, San Antonio Ophthalmologist)
Botox has an excellent safety record
27 Year Old Woman Treated With Botox With Dr. Jimmy S. Firouz, MD, FACS, Beverly Hills Plastic Surgeon
Botox has been used for many years and has an excellent safety profile, but no procedure is entirely 100% risk free. To ensure that you have the least chance of any adverse effects, be sure that you receive your treatment from an board certified dermatologist or plastic surgeon who has experience with Botox injections.
No matter who does your injections however, you may have some redness at each injection site and/or or a little bruise. Whether or not you will bruise is unpredictable. Sometimes patients who have had Botox 9 times with no bruising will have a bruise on the 10th treatment.
Keep in mind that redness and bruising are side effects of any type of injections, not just Botox. The placement of the injections is important, to decrease the chance that the Botox will be injected into a muscle that you don’t want to inject.
38 Year Old Woman Treated With Botox By Dr Steven H. Dayan, MD, Chicago Facial Plastic Surgeon
If that happens, that muscle will relax–that’s what happens with a eyelid droop. However, lid droops are not very common because experienced injectors know where to inject. What is more common, and could be mistaken for a lid droop, is a brow droop.
This happens when someone has a very powerful forehead muscle that is injected with Botox to treat the horizontal forehead lines. When the forehead relaxes the brows lower, and it can look like the lids are drooping when it reality it is the heaviness of the brow that is pushing the lids down.
I always ask my patients to make a lot of facial expression when I examine them, to determine if this could happen. If there is the potential for this problem, there are ways to inject Botox in certain combinations of muscles to help get a brow lift while relaxing the forehead, too.
43 Year Old Woman Treated With Botox By Dr Angela J. Lamb, MD, New York Dermatologist
Overall, Botox is a safe and quick procedure that gives great results. (Jordana S. Gilman, MD, Washington Dermatologic Surgeon)
How To Make sure Botox injection is safe.
I have been injecting Botox for over 10 years and Botox injection is safe. Botox adverse effects include brow, eye ptosis and bruising, however these are rare. Brow ptosis and eye ptosis is from injecting too much Botox at the forehead.
Too much botox into the frontalis muscle weaken the muscle and patient may complain of heaviness at the forehead and there is descent of the brow. Eylelid ptosis is from the botox going into the levator palpebrae, this maybe from injection the botox too deeply that it tracks behind the fascial plane and into the eye levator palpebrae muscle This can be avoided by using a lower dosage for the frown lines 15 U and 10U for the forehead lines.
45 Year Old Woman Treated With Botox By Doctor Todd A. Besnoff, MD, Clearwater Physician
More can be added later on. Also the injection should be into the muscle and not too deep. How to make sure that Botox injection is safe. The technique is paramount and the practitioner must have a special interest, knowledge, experience and the volume to continue to do a good job.
You can find this at the Allergan Physician Locator for Botox and we always rank among the highest in Hawaii. I have trained my nurse Leliani to do the Botox at my facility and she has been doing this for the past 2 years and is doing an excellent job.
The training include knowledge of all the muscles of face and how botox will effect facial expression and include frown lines, forehead lines, brow lift and shaping of the brow, crow’s feet, bunny lines, gummy lines, droopy nose, mouth smile, Nefertiti lift, chin lift etc.
The injection of botox is an art and the practitioner has to work with the patient to achieve what the patient desired with minimal adverse affects and should be done gently pain free and with minimal bruising. (Choon Kia Yeo, MD, Honolulu General Surgeon)
Botox side effects are extremely rare
Botox side effects are extremely rare when properly injected. Botox will inhibit any muscle it comes in contact with, so having it injected by someone with a clear understanding of facial anatomy is key. At the small doses used for facial cosmetic purposes, Botox is very safe.
The key to a good first experience is seeing an experienced physician injector. (Matheson A. Harris, MD, Salt Lake City Oculoplastic Surgeon)
Botox has an excellent safety record
FDA approved Allergan Botox Cosmetic has an outstanding safety record for its use in facial cosmetics. Experience and an understanding of facial anatomy is the key in terms of minimizing the chances of undesirable results.
A droopy eyelid can occur if Botox treatment to the glabellar area (corrugator muscles – located medially above your brow) involves migration of the medication to effect other muscles outside your treatment zone. This occurs very very rarely.
Hence the importance of choosing an experienced M. D. to perform your treatment. Minor facial asymmetries is a known risk of the procedure. If something like this does occur, it will require additional treatment. And the effects will likely subside in 3-4 months. (C. Bob Basu, MD, FACS, Houston Plastic Surgeon)
Is Botox safe
Doctor Gregory Pippin, MD, Metairie Facial Plastic Surgeon – Botox
Botox has been used for a variety of medical problems for a very long time…well before it was used for anti-aging treatment. It is a wonderful product and can really improve one’s appearance. Botox is certainly very safe overall.
That being said, all medications have some potential problems. How to best avoid problems…skip the salon and make sure you go to a qualified medical office. Your surgeon will be do a medical history to make sure that there is nothing that puts you at increased risk for problems.
For best results an understanding of your face’s underlying muscles is critical. Finally make sure that you are getting real Botox, something all reputable medical offices would provide. (Rodger Shortt, FRCSC, Toronto Plastic Surgeon)
Droopy eyelids following Botox
Complications following Botox treatment such as droopy eyelids is very uncommon. Botox has an excellent safety record. The most important issue when considering a Botox treatment is the experience and qualifications of the injector. Don’t go just for price.
There is a lot of skill involved with Botox treatments. Botox is a powerful chemical which can create muscle imbalances and abnormal facial expressions. A skilled injector knows the anatomy and can avoid or correct such problems.
The most common sequela following Botox injections is swelling and bruising. Fortunately this is short lived. (Todd B. Koch, MD, Buffalo Plastic Surgeon)
Botox “side effects”, how to best avoid them.
Botox is a very safe drug. It is a medicine that trained injectors place into the muscle. The muscle stops moving so much and the wrinkle on top of the muscle should improve. (Jeffrey J. Roth, MD, FACS, Las Vegas Plastic Surgeon)
Avoiding Botox Side Effects
It is very important to identify someone who is highly skilled and has experience with Botox injections. You should avoid rubbing/massaging the area for 24 hours after the injections or laying flat for several hours following the injections as that could theoretically result in redistribution of the product.
Botox is very safe and most people are very satisfied with the results. (Jeffrey Weinzweig, MD, Chicago Plastic Surgeon)