I'm 1 week post treatment on my inner thighs. I've lost a good bit of weight this year but still having an issue with my thighs rubbing together which is very painful as I walk everywhere in the city. I had the treatment at a dermatologist's office-I've seen it offered at medspas and other not medical locations but wanted to have to the security of a dr's office overseeing the treatment and follow ups. I had read about the pain/discomfort during the treatment, the painful post treatment massage and the pain in the days/weeks after work. I don't want to discount anyone else's experience but I had almost zero discomfort-and I do mean discomfort-Not pain. I was worried about the message so I popped 3 Ibuprofens before I went-like i would for a bikini wax. The only discomfort maybe was when the device was suctioned on. But it was a mild pinch that quickly passed. I did work on my laptop and even hopped on a conference call. The post treatment massage was odd-but not painful. I left feeling odd walking with a sensation of two big lumps of numb skin inbewteen my legs but nothing else. Went back to work. The next day was the 'worst' if you could call it that. Some mild tenderness to the touch or when sitting down. Not unlike the day after doing a lot of lunges at the gym. Since then I've had no swelling or bruising. Maybe some slight pins and needles or tingling feelings that pass as quickly as a sneeze. Nothing that would make me take an ibuprofen or to wake up. I dont want to jinx myself and have the real discomfort kick in a week later but I feel pretty safe. I confirmed w the dr that just becauise i did have any sweeling or bruisng that teh treatment was not effective but he assures me that's not the case. Clearly, I can not say if the treatment was successful-it is way too soon for any evaluation-or if the treatment was worth it. I just wanted to write this to add another experience regarding pain and recovery since there are so many dramatic and offputting stories here. Everyone heals differently and have different levels of pain tolerance. I would say I have a pretty high level myself. But keep in mind that if your only reason for not having CoolSculpt is the fear of possible pain during recovery, you would be in 1000% more pain with another fat removal procedures like lipo. I will try to post a follow up in 3 months regarding results.
Your method of hair removal would be helpful to know. However most any method of hair removal should be safe starting the day after Botox was injected. Botox is injected deep into muscle, and most hair removal by laser, for example, only penetrates into the lower layer of skin (dermis) and not into muscle. Botox reaches its maximum effect around 10 days after placement.
The FDA approved way to dilute Botox is with saline. Bacteriostatic saline (with preservative) is most commonly used because it does not hurt as much as some other diluents. Although theoretically Botox would probably still work if diluted with lidocaine, I would not recommend this. If your provider uses bacteriostatic saline and a small (30-32 gauge) needle, the procedure should be very quick and well tolerated with minimal discomfort.
Botox relaxes muscles and should not cause volume loss. The volume loss was most likely unrelated to Botox. An evaluation with a health care professional could help diagnose what the volume loss problem might be.
If you are getting results from the Botox between your eyes / lower forehead but not around the crowe's feet area, then the problem is almost certainly that you need more Botox in the crowe's feet to achieve the result you want. You should definitely see your injector and discuss this with them so that can get you the appropriate quantity of Botox.
Your photos show some wrinkles, some skin laxity, and some volume loss, all of which could be improved fairly easily. Potentially, these could be corrected by a botulinum toxin product to relax the wrinkles formed when you move your eyelids), a tightening procedure (laser resurfacing or blepharoplasty) to remove some of the laxity of skin seen at rest, and/ or a filler to replace lost volume of the sunken areas under your eyes. An exam with a provider skilled in these procedures could sort out which of these would be best and in which order of priority.
