Had Botox on forehead frown, now having surgery in 11 days under general anaesthetic. Will it affect the Botox from working?

Botox is injected directly into your muscles and so is not a systemic treatment. Its efficacy won’t be affected by your undergoing general anesthesia for your procedure. Now, if it’s your face that’s being operated on, and your Botox-treated muscles are affected, then that could interfere with your results. Please tell your surgeon about your Botox treatment, regardless; physicians should always have a complete and accurate profile of your medications, including cosmetic treatments.

Dear brunmum,

Thank you for your question. To answer simply, as long as the procedure is not going to be in the same area as your botox was injected, the two should not impact each other. As always, I recommend you consulting with your doctors before proceeding with the surgery. Best of luck!

The botox will not be effected by general anaesthetic - it will remain active for 3-4 months once injected. Best, Dr. Emer. 

No, general anesthesia won't negatively impact your results. Botox results resolve in 3-4 months. Hope this helps.

Thank you for your question brunmum. I understand your concern. Botox is a purified protein used to address wrinkles associated with facial expression. When injected into the skin Botox will relax the muscles and smoothen out the overlying wrinkles. The most common areas of treatment are in the upper face. These include the horizontal lines seen on the upper forehead when one raises the brows, the vertical lines seen between the brows when one frowns (frown lines), and the crow's feet seen around the eyes when one smiles.It is difficult to make an assessment without a formal exam where the entire medical history is reviewed. However, I hope the information provided here is useful.The pivotal studies demonstrated that the peak results are seen 14 days after the treatment and most people enjoy their results for 3-4 months. At that point, a maintenance treatment is recommended. While some people start to see results as early as the next day, it can take two weeks for full results so patience is important. We have our patients return two weeks after their treatment to assess their results via photographs. At that time additional units may be added if necessary.Some people may have full results 11 days after a treatment. If I had a patient who was having surgery 11 days after a Botox treatment, I would say that the general anesthesia would not effect the results of the Botox treatment. But depending on the specific surgery, changes may be seen (for example, in the case of a brow lift).With any injection, there are risks such as pain, bleeding, bruising, redness, swelling, tenderness, and infection. We take special precautions to minimize these risks such as using a painless technique. We also treat bruises with a laser as early as the next day. Bruises usually resolve within two weeks if untreated. After a laser treatment bruises usually resolve in 1-3 days, but may still take two weeks for full resolution. In addition to these risks, with Botox there is also a risk that the product spreads or diffuses to nearby structures. Spread to nearby muscles can lead to side effects such as the temporary appearance of droopy eyelids or a temporary asymmetric smile.After a Botox treatment, I recommend that my patients avoid heat exposure, alcohol consumption, and strenuous exercise for 24 hours and not lie down flat for four hours. This is because all of these activities may possibly lead to the movement of the product and consequent side effects such as droopy eyelids as described above. Although there have been no definitive studies shown that these actually occur and some physicians do not provide such aftercare instructions, in the absence of data I err on the side of caution and recommend that my patients avoid such activities.Please consult with a doctor for specific recommendations. Good luck!

Thank you for your question. No, being under general anesthesia should not affect your Botox from working assuming the surgery is not near the site of the injections. While this is our recommendation for our patients, you should always consult with your physician and surgeon. Good Luck.

The surgery should not interfere with the Botox as long as you are not having surgery in that area. 

Hi, to answer your question - no, the anesthesia will have no impact on the effectiveness of Botox, or any of the neuromodulators which have previously been injected into your forehead.

Thanks for your question brunmum.  Having Botox 11 days prior to general anesthesia will not affect the outcome of your Botox.  Best of luck! 
Ashley, RN and Nurse Injector

No it shouldn’t. After the first several hours following the injections have gone by, it is..”what’s done is done”. You may still be approaching the full effect of the Botox but there is no changing what that eventual affect is going to be at that point.

Good luck!