“Scary dental block reaction prior to restylane (third time)”
Restylane: NOT worth it
Pain: Severe
I went to the same Doctor for the 3rd time (no prior problems) to have Restylane injected into my upper lip. I received a Dental Block (lidojust as I had before, but this time it was then injected the other side of my face, which was also way painful than usual, though not quite as bad as the left side. When I complained of excruciating pain, he gave me a shot of saline and that did help the pain subside. However, I immediately swelled in my cheeks, and we did not do the Restylane.
He thinks I had a reaction to the preservative in the lidocaine. I am skeptical because I have never had a problem with lidocaine in my life, and have had plenty of dental work, etc. The next day my face was so swollen and completely numb that I could barely smile, and I could not feel anything. I had this in late March, and it is July and I am just now completely back to normal.
The swelling lasted about 2 weeks (the worst of it gone after one week), but my smile was partially paralyzed for weeks and I did not regain total feeling for months! It was terrifying.
I went to a few neurologists and plastic surgeons to get their opinions and they seemed to think that it was injected directly into the nerve (a fluke accident, not necessarily the doctor's fault). My friend is a dentist and he said no one is allergic to lidocaine. I'm not sure it was injected into a nerve because the saline dilution injection did help, and all the doctors said it was unlikely that he would hit a nerve on both sides. However, it was excruciatingly painful, and upon the first injection (on the left inside of my upper-lip, below the cheek) the pain went shooting all the way up to my left eye, in a fluttering sensation.
Updated on Oct 28, 2009:
**UPDATE** I am fully recovered, and I recently ran into the Doctor who did this, at a restaurant in town (we were both getting take-out), and he looked as if he had seen a ghost when he saw me. He was very uncomfortable, very awkward, and VERY quick to get out of my sight. I had to be the one to say "hi", and I did because I couldn't believe he was going to ignore me after looking me in the eye. He did not forget me, as I was in there once a week after this happened so they could monitor what was going on with my frozen, swollen face, I needed to say something to get him to acknowledge me, and so I said "I'm all healed". He said "oh good", very nervously, and rushed out. It was very dismissive. It angered me because I could have sued him -- I think most people would have and I was even advised to, but I didn't because I figured anyone can hit a nerve, it wasn't intentional. I felt very brushed off and that he was very sleazy. I will name him now, after all this time trying to be respectful of him and his practice, but he doesn't care about me at all, I believe he was only trying to protect himself from getting sued.
Jul 17, 2009Comments and replies (25)
49 posts
18 Jul 2009
You are such a beautiful Girl, you really are! But I think you are making to many excuses for your Doc....he messed up...do not got back there... ever!
112 posts
21 Jul 2009
Most likely injection into nerve canal which is rare but can happen and can result in a numbness but should not effect ability to smile. This is confusing if you have true muscle activity decreased. The nerve injury will almost always resolve slowly over months but should not be permanent. Not sure i agree with above comment as this can happen even to very experienced dermatologists and plastic surgeons. Everyone has different anatomy, no one is just like the textbooks. I would guess you are fully recovered. There is preservative free lidocaine that can be used if needed. The extreme pain on injection is usually due to hitting the nerve directly with the needle so again, likely to be a rare event. go see an allergist to be tested for lidocaine allergy. Easy to do and will resolve the question. good luck
21 posts
25 Jul 2009
First of all, you are pretty & have a sweet smile and if you never got better, which you will,you'd still look pretty! Second, as someone who has had Bell's Palsy and a paralyzed face and residual partial paralysis, meaning I NEVER got my normal smile back, & one eye is slightly smaller than the other, I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN BY SCARY, I HAVE BEEN THERE SEVERAL TIMES, AND NOTHING IS WORTH THE RISK YOU ARE TAKING.THIS IS YOUR FACE YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT. I WOULN'T LEAVE THE HOUSE FOR MONTHS, OF COURSE I LOOKED ALOT WORSE THAN YOU, YOU LOOK FINE, BUT DON'T PUSH YOUR LUCK.YOU STILL LOOK GOOD, SO KEEP IT THAT WAY. Also, I had a problem with a dr. & also said I believed he was a good dr.NOT HIS FAULT, and blah blah. LISTEN TO ME, WHEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS HAPPENS, IT IS THE DR's FAULT. SORRY DR. ALLEN, WHAT ELSE WOULD YOU SAY, AS A DR.? We know everyone is different and it's your job to know how to inject on each different person.However, One dr explained to me that we have nerve canals & some people's are smaller than others so that when the nerve swells as mine did and as I think your's did, there's no room in the smaller canal for the enlarged nerve & thus the resulting paralysis in only some people. KGB, here's my advice and coming from me, with five previous episodes of facial paralysis from the Bell's, I think I know about facial problems and how scary they are and how we take our beauty for granted. I lost my beautiful smile which greatly affected me - DON'T TAKE A CHANCE ON LOSING YOURS. First, can't go back to same dr., no way. Second, why would you get a painful shot of lidocaine and then more painful shots of restylane? if you must get the lip shots, and I don't think you should, DON'T GET THE LIDOCAINE. THEY HURT ANYWAY, SO JUST GET THE PAIN FROM THE RESTYLANE AND FORGET IT. YOU'RE HAVING PAIN FROM THE PREVENTIVE SHOTS SO WHAT'S THE POINT? AND YOU KNOW YOU WILL NEVER BE ABLE TO GET THE LIDOCAINE AGAIN WITHOUT PANIC AND FEAR, RIGHTFULLY. ALSO, WITH ALL THE TOPICAL PRODUCTS ON THE MARKET FOR LIP PLUMPING, FORGET THIS AND GET SOME FUSION LIP PRODUCTS, THEY DO THE TRICK. SO DOES ADRIAN ARPEL LIP PLUMPING CAPSULES. Put on at nite, have plumper lips a.m. not the same as restylane, but hey, NO RISK. what you're doing IS TOO RISKY. IT'S TOO LATE TO EVER GET MY SMILE BACK B/C THE MUSCLES ATROPHY VERY QUICKLY, BUT YOU'RE STILL OKAY, DON'T RISK IT AGAIN, PLEASE. DDS EVEN TOLD ME INJECTION WAY BACK IN MOLAR AREA CAN CAUSE FACIAL PARALYSIS B/C THEY DO GO INTO THE NERVE. I EVEN TRY TO AVOID THAT, LETTING THOSE TEETH GO. I LIVE IN CONSTANT FEAR OF GETTING THIS AGAIN AND YOU'RE JUST ASKING FOR IT. YOUR FACE IS NOTHING TO FOOL AROUND WITH. I HOPE I'M GETTING THRU TO YOU. :) BE WELL.
21 posts
25 Jul 2009
KGB, ONE MORE THING. If it was a reaction to lidocaine and you need an allergy dr. as Dr. Allen suggests, then why didn't you have this problem from the beginning? I KNOW WHY, IT'S B/C YOU'RE NOT ALLERGIC TO IT. HE DID THE OTHER INJECTIONS PROPERLY AND SCREWED UP SOMEHOW ON THIS LAST ONE. You said yourself it hurt worse and then you had this reaction FOR THE FIRST TIME. DON'T GO BACK, AND DON'T GET LIDOCAINE FOR THESE PROCEDURES AGAIN. SOMEONE ELSE COULD DO THE SAME THING AND YOU MAY ALSO VERY WELL HAVE SMALLER NERVE CANALS AS I SAID IN PREVIOUS COMMENT, THEREBY MAKING THE SHOTS EVEN MORE RISKY FOR YOU.
21 posts
27 Jul 2009
No, unfortunately, even tho the nerves take longer to rejuvenate than any other body part, if they don't come back within one to two months, they're not going to. My bigger problem is really just living with the fear that it's coming again and what will I be left with. As I said,I had it about five times, full blown, and other smaller episodes that resolved with meds.but why is the question that no one can answer. But havng to live with this is what makes me so sure that you shouldn't take chances with your face. Believe me I know no one thinks it can happen to them, but so did I and yet it did. I have fear just going to the dds and hearing myself say this makes me wonder how i ever did the restylane at all, but mainly I did it to fix the pull from Bells and it actually did, thank God. I never realized it could have made it worse if it hit a nerve. Okay, I can only hope you take my advice. Good luck.
17 posts
2 Aug 2009
Your pic look almost exactly like how my face is right now! (mine might be a little worse) BUT although I have a numb spot on the side of my lip, I can function fine..smile etc. I have been icing like crazy! Im glad yours resolved,I dont understand why doctors dont seem to understand what does this?! It seems to be NOT too uncommon!
37 posts
3 Aug 2009
That is awful. I had it before too without a problem. Did your doctor offer any explanation, like did he think she hit a nerve? The doctor I went to is board certified and he did the nerve block himself, but it was so scary and took me months to recover. Don't worry though, you will go back to normal. Will you post pictures, or maybe send me a picture to my email?
37 posts
11 Aug 2009
Yeah I would bet (obviously I'm not a doctor) that what happened to me happened to you. If you want to email a picture my email is kgbusse@hotmail.com. I was numb on a part of my lip and nose for about 2 months!! but luckily it is back to normal now.
28 posts
29 Aug 2009
You were more beautiful before the shots. There looks to be a lot of swelling.
17 posts
10 Oct 2009
Hi guys nearly 8 weeks now and the numbness is gone, but some of the weird face puffiness has remained, which turns my nose up a slight bit. In other words, STILL not back to normal. Just thought Id post an update! How are you girls all doing now?