Botox injections have become more widespread these days. Whilst once botox injections where the sole domain of the rich and well to do, today your local soccer mothers are getting in line to receive the treatment and imbibe from the fountain of everlasting youth.
But it’s not all child’s play. Whilst tonnes of individuals are pleased with the results, some end up as botox disasters. Botulinum toxin is a drug and like every other medication, it can have some unpleasant and hair raising side effects.
Below is a list of common botox disasters, what to expect and what to do if it happens!
Lid Sag
Once of the most prevalent problems following botulinum toxin injection is lid droop. In this side-effect the upper lid is a touch weakened and sits lower than it routinely would. If you look in the mirror you might see the upper lid covers the upper part of the iris, the brown or blue part of the eye.
This effect is due to local seeping of the botulinum toxin to affect the muscles that are responsible to open the eye lids. This complication normally starts about one week after the botox injections. If it happens, you could find yourself with a droopy lid for one month or sometimes even longer.
If this occurs, be sure to head back to your plastic surgeon. It is not necessarily his or her fault, because it’s a side-effect which can happen even with good technique. There are some eye drops the medico can prescribe, but you must only take these if the problem actually annoys you. The drops themselves can have some unpleasant side effects.
Brow Droop
In this condition the whole brow sags a bit. The end result looks similar to the lid droop, with the eye appearing partly shut.
The cause is subtley different here. This typically occurs in older folk who have loose skin folds round the eye. So as to keep the eye open, routinely the forehead muscles compensate and raise the brow. In these people, treating the forehead muscles could cause the eye brow to fall.
In this situation there is not any real way to reverse the side-effect. In some cases the doctor might be in a position to inject a tiny dose of the agent into the muscles that close the eye and this might raise the eyelid slightly.
There’s another version of this that might occur in younger folks. Here only a section of the eyebrow close to the nose tends to droop down. There can be a slight bulge of skin of the glabellar region. This is due to a disequilibrium between muscle strengths after botox injection.
Lack of ability to close the eye
This is a pretty serious condition. However it’s not typically connected with cosmetic treatments. Its likelier to be an issue in people treated for squints.
If you’re unable to totally close your eyelids, in time this may cause serious problems like dry eyes and eventually can lead to damage to your vision.
There is no remedy for this, if this complication eventuates. It'll wear off ultimately, but the prevention of dry eyes is an emergency. You must immediately consult an opthalmologist at the initial sign of this side effect.
Uneven appearance
This is also not unusual, especially in people treated for the 1st time. It might be due to subtly different doses of botox being injected or due to variations in muscle strength between the two sides.
This can be comparatively straightforward to correct. In the followup appointment the doctor can identify the disparity between the muscle strengths and add a dose of the toxin to the stronger muscles. This should correct or at the very least improve any uneven outcome.
Hopefully you will be one of the millions of happy customers. However if one of these unpleasant complications happen, be absolutely certain to head straight back to your cosmetic surgeon.
Life By Design is an Aesthetic Medical Clinic, focusing on botox injections, botox treatments and lip sculpting. All treatments are carried out by qualified medical doctors in a cosy environment. Botox is a registered trademark of Allergan.
