Botox on crows feet affecting smile? (Photo)

From your photos I can see that your smile is slightly inhibited. The skin around the eyes (creating the initial crow's feet) can bunch as you smile which allows your smile to be at its broadest. A highly qualified injector should take note of your skin movement as you smile to ensure correct placement of the product. Sometimes, the paralysis of the muscle means that the overlying skin is not able to bunch up naturally.  It's possible that the injections were placed or have migrated to the lower 1/3 of the crow feet injection site which could effect the zygomatic major and minor muscles that are involved in smiling. You will have to wait 3-6 months for the Botox to dissolve and if you do decide to get more Botox then it may be worth visiting another injector. 

Thank you for your question. Botox typically takes 3-5 days to show and any side effects you are experiencing are temporary and tend to subside within 1-2 months. Please consult with your board certified facial plastic surgeon for more details on your specific procedure. Botox can provide improvement to your 11s for up to 3 months. 
Best wishes,

I would have to say that Botox is the likely cause of your smile issues. It's not that the Botox is directly effecting the muscle that lifts the corners of your mouth, but it is effecting the muscle that creates the crows feet. You, however, seem to use that muscle a little to lift the cheek when you smile. Now that the Botox is preventing you from using that muscle, you can't lift your cheeks quite as well, and this causes the slight depression in your cheek, making it look like your cheek is a little lower (which it is). This will wear off over the next couple months. Botox can still be safely placed in the upper portion of the crows feet, but I'd leave the lower portion alone from now on.Andrew Campbell, M.D.Facial Rejuvenation SpecialistQuintessa Aesthetic Centers

Thank you for your question. It is difficult to give you advice without knowing where and what dosage of Botox was injected.  However, I agree with you that your smile has been affected. Your smile will return back to normal when the Botox wears off in 3-6 months. I recommend having this evaluated by your treating physician.

Dear yesenias1990,

I see exactly what you mean.

And I can see what has happened here as well. You are very perceptive. 

First thing is, do not worry, your smile will look happy and not "starey" in about 12 - 16 weeks after injection. Second thing, and more important, don't have "crows feet" botox again for many years, keep those laughter lines. They are beautiful.

When we say treat "crow's feet" with botox, what we mean is that we are injecting botox into the orbicularis oculi, the drawstring muscle around the eye, very thin muscle, to make it more difficult to scrunch it - something one needs to to be able to do when protecting the eyes by squinting, squeezing eyes tight shut, etc.

On the surface (and for btx injectors) it may seem the right thing to do to remove those smile lines that pop up at the corners of our eyes when we smile, especially since drug companies decided to call them by the ugly term "crow's feet" - I call them smilies. But is it really the right thing in terms of facial expression as a whole?Probably not. There is a popular psychology term the "Pan Am Smile" named after the friendly but forced smile that was trained into the Pan Am flight crews when greeting people as part of their "great customer service" image.Today, some may refer to it as the courtesy smile which is polite but superficial.

What your photo shows is a "Botox smile". French physician Guillaume Duchenne (1806-1875) described this "courtesy smile", as "the smile that plays upon just the lips when our soul is sad."Duchenne researched the smile in great detail in 1862. His findings revealed that an artificial smile used only the large muscles on each side of the face, the zygomaticus major. 

But a genuine smile, induced by a joke, involved the obicularis oculi, as well. The resulting effect is a visible wrinkling around the corners of the eyes that lies outside voluntary control. You really can't help a happy smile smile - it just bursts upon your face!Remember, these lines appear with smiling, but don't leave creases unless your skin is deteriorating due to pile-up of dead cells or photo-aging (sun-damage).

In research circles, a genuine smile is still known as a ‘Duchenne Smile’ while a fake smile is a ‘Pan Am Smile’ after the air hostesses in the defunct airline’s adverts.

Hope my philosophical/ medical ramblings would both reassure and inform you! Good luck!

Focus not just on the lines, but on the face and person as a whole!

Botox can be the cause of a change in your smile but to be honest I really can't see much difference between the two.this is good because it means if it is a botox side effect it won't last very long (max 1-2 weeks I'd guess)

use less next time and make sure to stay higher around the eyes and not go lower on the cheek where the smile muscles sit.(about a centimeter lower)

If Botox or any other neuromodulator is injected to low were it effects the zygomatic muscles it will effect your smile by weakening the muscles that are responsible for lifting the corner of your mouth.The good news is that it is temporary.Good luck!

Thank you for your question. It is difficult to give you advice without knowing where and what dosage of Botox was injected.  However, I agree with you that your smile has been affected. Your smile will return back to normal when the Botox wears off in 3-6 months. I recommend having this evaluated by your treating physician. 

It may be that the botox injected around your eyes moved to the lower part of  your face and affected the muscles that lift the corners of your mouth.  It is very rare for this to happen symmetrically on both sides.   The good news is that Botox is not permanent and it only lasts about 3 months on average.  It will last less time if you smile frequently and begin to massage all the muscles around your mouth.   If you massage away from your mouth (move your hands in the direction you want the smile to go, so in your case upward) you should begin to see improvement within a week.  

During your next botox session, you will need to notify the doctor that this happened to you so they can avoid putting too many units on the lower part of you eyes and also avoid smiling during the procedure.  

Good Luck!

It may be that some of the botox migrated or diffused to you zygomaticus muscles which would affect your smile. If so is likely only small amounts and may wear off in a short time but if not will eventually disappear in four months or so.That's actually one of the best features of toxins and fillers as opposed to surgery-if you don't like the effect its not permanent. If you do you can continue treatment.