Extremely Painful Botox Injections

asked 1 year ago by 19103 in Ugong Norte, F2
Latest answer by Karol A. Gutowski, MD
Question viewed 484 times
Tags: injection, pain

I had my first ever botox injections yesterday and the injections were extremely painful! Is this normal? I read in different fora that they are not supposed to be very painful. The pain I had while getting the injections was penetrating and sometimes even extended to the head. Is it possible that the young doctor who did it was not experienced enough or injected the botox too fast? Please enlighten me. Thank you.

11 answers to Extremely Painful Botox Injections

Should Botox Hurt?

Hello 19103. Generally speaking our patients do not have trouble with pain from Botox injections. As has been suggested by another practitioner, it may have something to do with the gauge (size) of the needle, normally very small needles are used for Botox. We also periodically have a patient that uses a cold pack for a few seconds at the injection sites and this helps numb the area temporarily before the injection. A steady and gentle hand can also help minimize... more

Harold J. Kaplan, MD
Los Angeles Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.celibre.com

Prevent painful Botox injection

If you consider having another Botox treatment, you may ask your doctor to rub an ice cube on the injection site for a few seconds to briefly numb it up.

Karol A. Gutowski, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Botox and "Beauty" Pain

Overall Botox injections are not very painful. A very small needle is used and most patient tolerate the procedure extremely well. There is a very small percentage of patients that do not tolerate any pain well. For these patients pretreatment with a topical anesthetic might be necessary. It is very uncommon, but a few people require it even for the most minor procedures.

Lisa Kates, MD
Annapolis Dermatologist

Botox and pain

Everyone repsonds differently to botox injections. Most patients tolerate it very well without topical anesthetic. Still some require topical and still feel uncomfortable. But I would say in the majority they do not complain that it was painful.

Steven Wallach, MD
Manhattan Plastic Surgeon

Botox injections should cause minimal discomfort

Botox injections should not be painful. Pain during the injections may be due to cold temperature, improper technique (injecting too deep or a rapid injection), or a large needle. I use a 31 gauge needle, and my patients never experience any discomfort with Botox injections. Delivering a pain-free treatment is part of the 'art' of Botox injections.

Ryan Greene, MD, PhD
Fort Lauderdale Facial Plastic Surgeon

Botox not very painful if done gently

Several factors will lead to a fairly comfortable experience. First the needle should be very small. Injections should be slow and NOT deep onto the bone. In addition - botox is refrigerated, and the syringe should be brought closer to body temperature immediately prior to its use. Having said that, pain tolerance is very subjective and there is some degree of uncertainty.

Christopher J. Peers, MD
South Bend Facial Plastic Surgeon

www.peerscosmetic.com

Painful injections of botox

Botox injections can be painful due to several reasons: large needles (the ones to use are 30G needles), too deep of injections (Botox injections should be injected in the upper part of the muscles not against the bone), too rapid of an injections (slow injections of a small volumes are less painful than large volumes of Botox), and finally if the needle did hit a small nerve the pain can radiate to the top of the head. Your doctor should know the path of such nerves to avoid hitting... more

Henri P. Gaboriau, MD
Seattle Facial Plastic Surgeon

Botox injections typically are not very painful

slow injections, small needles and not too deep an injection should make botox injections not very painful. If the bone were touched by the needle deeply, or the injection very quick or the needle larger than necessary then the injections might be more painful. botox should be diluted prior to use and if the diluent used was not the water that should be but some other solution, then maybe it hurt more for that reason.

Ronald Shelton, MD
Manhattan Dermatologist

Painful Botox injections

There are several reasons for this. Occasionally the Botox can be refrigerated and cause pain due to the temperature difference. Other reasons include the dliuent; the preservative in the saline and buffered preparation may actually make it less painful. Numerous smaller volume injections versus larger bolus injections may also diminish the pain. In any event, it is possible to irritate a nerve which can cause pain that radiates to the forehead or scalp.

Otto Joseph Placik, MD
Chicago Plastic Surgeon

Botox should not be painful

Painful Botox injection most likely due to a dull needle. Often when drawing up the injection, the needle can be dulled, which adds to the discomfort of the injection.

Jason Lichtenberger, MD
Bellingham Facial Plastic Surgeon

Painful Botox

Everything that you mention is possible. Every time you have a stick even with a tiny needle bleeding occurs under the skin and muscle. This bleeding afterwards causes pain and swelling. Furthermore it is possible to have heavyness and tightness all over your head after botox injections. It is also possible that you may have bruised by now as well. It is also possible that it was your first time and you were too sensitive to it. Anyhow things wil get better in a... more