“Blinded by Botox Injected for Hemifacial Spasm”

Lorencita

Not Worth It
Spent: $2,000 in California

Comments (3)

Updated 9 Dec 2009

Posted 9 Dec 2009

I had Botox injected for hemifacial spasm three weeks ago and am suffering from a paralyzed lower eyelid and total loss of functional use of my eye. (I now have a bandage lens and various interventions to deal with the lid paralysis.)

Checked yesterday, my vision in the afflicted eye was 20/200. I have to keep the eye patched in order to use my good eye.

While the disorder is annoying, that discomfort pales in comparison to the functional blindness I suffered as a complication of Botox. I obviously would not do this again.

The known risk of "blurred vision" hardly seems adequate to describe this outcome. My doctor has not explained, except to say I must be sensitive to Botox. Can anyone help me understand what went wrong here?

This review is the subjective opinion of a RealSelf member and not of RealSelf, Inc.

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Comments (3)

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Darryl J. Blinski, MD 9 Dec 2009

Why have you not seen a eye specialist? Makes me wonder- hummm. GO NOW! Maybe these issues can be treated by the appropriate eye specialist. Good Luck, Dr. Darryl J. Blinski, MIAMI

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Lorencita 9 Dec 2009

Actually, the injections were done by a neuro-ophthalmologist and I'm being followed-up by an eye doc. Maybe I should've gone to a plastic surgeon instead? This seemed like a good choice at the time.

David C. Pearson, MD 11 Dec 2009

There was a single case report in the medical literature in 2007 of optic neuropathy following botox injections for the eye muscles (not a cosmetic procedure, but for correction of a thyroid-related eye condition). At least in that case, high-dose oral steroids and decompression of the orbit (the eye socket) relieved the problem. I'm not suggesting that yours is the same, but you might want to see if your eye doctors think this is relevant. I also think that you are under the care of exactly the right type of doctors for your condition (the neuro-ophtho and the ophtho). Best of luck, --DCP

View answers from David C. Pearson, MD