Botox achieves its results by temporarily relaxing muscles, preventing contractions that create or exacerbate lines and wrinkles. But achieving the best results requires great skill and extensive experience because Botox injections that are incorrectly positioned or that use the wrong dosage can lead to unintended results, ranging from unwanted cosmetic over-corrections to causing actual functional problems. Using Botox on the following areas requires extra caution.
Forehead and Brow Muscle Risks
We use our foreheads to convey a wide range of emotions, with the frontalis muscle (which raises the eyebrows) interacting with other muscle groups that pull in opposing directions. The frontalis muscle consists of two lobes, with a central gap.
Injecting Botox into the gap area will not produce desirable results, while injecting Botox just above the eyebrows can over-relax the frontalis muscle, resulting in drooping eyebrows that have undesired cosmetic effects. Injecting Botox between the eyebrows risks causing the eyelids to droop.
Using Botox near the outer corners of the eyes carries the risk of unevenly affecting the eyelids, and can result in the lower lid turning outwards.
Complications Around the Mouth
Many different muscles come into play around the mouth, controlling facial expressions, as well as eating and speaking. There is also significant interaction among the different muscle groups, which can lead to unwanted results if Botox is not skillfully applied.
Over-applying Botox intended to slim the jawline can easily result in losing the ability to smile naturally. Muscle locations can vary widely between individuals, requiring the practitioner to have sophisticated anatomical knowledge to achieve the best results.
Injecting Botox too close to facial arteries provides another potential problem. If Botox is applied incorrectly, blood circulation can enable it to spread away from the intended area, and can result in unwanted asymmetrical results.
Small Muscles Below the Mouth
The muscles responsible for pulling the corners of the mouth downwards can be treated using Botox, but ideally only using microdoses. The muscles are relatively small, and it’s easy to overapply Botox, which can result in unnatural-looking smiles.
Neck and Nose Injection Dangers
The platysma muscle consists of a thin sheet of muscle extending from the jaw to the collarbone. Botox can be used to soften neck bands, but using too much can cause muscle weakness.
Injecting Botox around the nose can reduce unwanted nostril flaring and the adjacent ‘bunny’ lines that appear when we smile. Nearby blood vessels can facilitate Botox migrating away from the injected area and can affect the ability to raise the upper lip.
Finding the Right Practitioner
Fortunately, it’s possible for skilled practitioners to achieve great results using Botox while avoiding the list of potential problems described here. But you should select your practitioner carefully, paying special attention to their experience. Your best guarantee of good results is to select a medical professional with many years of experience and with a provable track record.
Get Natural-Looking Results from Experienced Practitioners
Your Laser Skin Care practitioners are medically qualified, with extensive experience performing Botox procedures. We tailor all treatments according to each patient’s needs, and prioritize minimalistic application and natural-looking results. We invite you to contact us for more information on this or any of the other non-invasive cosmetic procedures we offer. We can help you choose the safest, most effective, and most cost-effective way to achieve your cosmetic goals. Call us at (323) 525-1516 to schedule a free consultation, or visit us online for more information.
