Botox: Stories

I have the same problem as you..I has botox six years ago, first and last time, but the new wrinkles on th cheeks never went away :(. love yourself the way you are!!! inside beauty its the best and we dont need to pay for it!!

It would appear that you have a form of cheek ptosis (cheek drop) and it was CAUSED by the botox for your crows feet. Many, many other people on RealSelf have the same or similar effect with varying degrees of severity - ME, Beth F, Amaxy, Penelope, Learning, Petrified, Uncool, Shabbygirl, Anny, Chicagoeye, AnotherBadBotox, Happywithme and the list goes on and on... We all have variations on the same theme from botox in the crows feet area. Some of us also have festoon formation under our eyes (bulging fat pads like a reverse blepharoplasty) or tear trough deformity (sunken hollows) from botox around and under the eyes. Botox is *not* FDA approved for use around the eyes for a very good reason - it is hit and miss. Some people have great results and some people have disasters. Other people who got this result have also thought that the botox didn't work properly because they could still see 'wrinkles' in the crows feet area after botox. Many of them had more and more botox which only made it worse and worse until they finally realised it happened BECAUSE of the botox. The lower part of the eye muscle assists the cheek muscle to hold the facial fat up in the face. Botox can cause the eye muscle to 'flatten out' allowing the facial fat to droop downwards. This appears to be what happened to you. As well as the lines you have photographed, do you feel that your cheeks look rounder (puff out more) when you smile? Cheeks appearing low and ‘swollen’ when smiling is often reported from botox-induced cheek ptosis and so is the starburst appearance around the eyes that you describe. Horizontal lines and folds of skin under and around the eyes are also often reported. What you are seeing is not actually an increase in wrinkles, it the bunching of loose skin because your cheek fat has descended to lower than where it would normally be. Botox affects skin as well as muscle because the facial muscles are unique in that they are directly connected to the skin. Your unhappy cosmetic outcome with botox looks relatively mild. I have seen photos of other people with botox-induced cheek ptosis results that are severe and mine was extreme. I still have the 'starburst' appearance around my eyes when I smile, the dropped facial fat and the festooning under my eyes NINE MONTHS LATER although there has been some improvement in the last couple of weeks. You have only had botox in this area once and it doesn’t appear that you had a lot of it. Please wait it out and let your muscle plump back out and your facial fat come back up. It will happen. From the reports on RealSelf and other websites from first-time botox users, you should see it come good in around 18-23 weeks. If you have more botox, the effect will last longer. PLEASE DO NOT HAVE MORE BOTOX IN THE EYE AREA. Some doctors may try to convince you that your effect can be ‘tweaked’ with more botox in different muscles around your eyes but you run a very big risk of making it a whole lot worse. I’m really sorry that your experience with botox is not a good one but know that you are not alone. I hope it wears off soon and please keep us updated on your progress. Cheers, K