Can Botox in the Forehead Cause a Numb Feeling in the Lips?

Botox is a great product for forehead wrinkles.  It works on the neuromuscular receptor site and blocks the message from the nerve to the muscle fibers to fire.  It should have a minnimal effect on sensory nerves.  I have had a few patients that felt numb on the forehead after injections for a few days/weeks afterwards.  There is not a anatomic reason to have numbness of the lips from injections to the forehead.   

Botox will block the signal from nerve to muscle but doesn't block the signal frm skin to nerve in the sensory (pain) pathway.  In addition, treatment of the forehead nerves utilize different nerves from those that supplies sensation to the lip.  Was there treatment such as fillers that you had injected in the lips? Are you getting a fever blister on the lips that can cause strange tingling prior to the eruption of the cold sore? You may want to see a neurologist for an examination.

Presumably this is your first BOTOX treatment.  It is understandable to be a little anxious about the treatment.  Hyperventilating occurs when we are nervous.  We breath just a little too fast.  This blows off CO2 in the blood.  You may not even be aware of this.  This causese tingling and numbness in the fingers and lips.  Your GP can confirm this by using a capnograph if they have one, or more painfully, a blood gas.  My advice is try to relax about your treatment and I suspect that your symptoms will resolve.

Botox injections in the forehead will not cause numbness in your lips.  Consult your physician again for re-assessment if it persists.

Botox on the forehead does not cause lip numbness. If it doesn't go away, consult a neurologist.

Hello and thank you for the question.

There is no data to suggest that Botox treatment to the forehead will induce numbness in the lips. This is in all likelihood has a un-related etiology.

Best of luck,

Glenn Vallecillos, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Anatomically, I can't think of any way that Botox in your forehead could cause a numb sensation in your lips. You should see your physician to determine what is the cause of your symptoms.

No. Something else is the cause, probably some unrecognized overbreathing due to ?? anxiety. Relax and enjoy the great results you should have from this great drug!

Put very succinctly, no, Botox cannot cause numbness of the lips when injected into the forehead.

The numbness you are experiencing in your upper lip is not associated with your Botox treatment.  Botox works by interrupting the signal between motor nerves and their muscles.  Botox has no effect on sensory nerves which are the nerves responsible for touch, taste, heat, cold, etc. which would be the type of nerve causing the lip symptoms that you describe.