I Had Botox a Week Ago and Want to Know if It is Safe to Do Facial Exercise?

By one week no facial exercise or massage will disturb the Botox. Ordinary exercise is fine a day after Botox.  I ask patients to avoid a facial massage for the first 48 hours after Botox injections.

With fillers, the more an area is manipulated, the shorter the effect of the filler.

 

Mark Lucarelli, MD, FACS

Madison, WI

Dear Misfortune

Generally, we allow patients to engage in exercise after 24 hours.  A bigger question is why would you want to waste your time with so-called facial exercises.  These are purported to benefit facial tone and reduce the appearance of aging.  Unfortunately there is absolutely not a scrap of evidence that they are beneficial in any way.  In fact, they may actually be counter-productive.  Effective exercise of these muscle will increase their mass.  Bulking up these muscles is generally considered unattractive.  You are probably working against the effect of the BOTOX treatments.  For that reason, facial exercises are not recommended.

Hi Misfortune.  It is perfectly safe to exercise the muscles of your face one week after injection.  By this time the Botox has already been absorbed in the muscle and will not migrate.

We would say that when using Botox and dermal fillers, your results will probably not last as long if you are constantly exercising the face that if you were not exercising the facial muscles.  Generally speaking, the less movement the face has with these products, the longer they last.

The official recommendations from Allergan who makes Botox is to avoid exercise or strenuous activity for 4 hours after having Botox.  You should be fine to do any activities at this point.

it's okay to do them...even after botox...maybe a couple of hours later...and the day after a filler seems okay too...but the purpose of the botox is to allow the muscles to rest...so what are you trying to accomplish...after all, muscle movement leads to lines and creases...exactly what you want to avoid...

Botox is safely in place by one week after injection, and facial exercises that do not include deep massage by fingers is fine, one week after fillers are injected. However, do not press hard on areas of Juvederm or Restylane, unless it is intentional massage to smooth a residual lump. It can take a few weeks for large pools of hyaluronic acid gels to settle in.

Misfortune,

I am not sure what the facial exercises will accomplish for you, but doing them a week after Botox injection will not affect the result of your treatment.  I tell patients not to increase their body temperature (exercise, hot tubs) for the first day after treatment.

Also, the Juvederm should not move due to use of the facial muscles.

I would avoid facial exercises for at least 24 to 48 hours after Botox injections. It is for this reason that I do not want my patients to get a face message for about 48 hours post Botox.  For fillers, you can technically still manipulate the location of a filler even a week after injection if pressed too hard. Also, with respect to fillers, the more you move and exercise, the less the fillers will last. Dr. Behnam. 

This is an excellent, practical question. The answer is a bit complex.  You can increase facial lines and wrinkles by using facial exercises after one week of treatment, but probably not for the reasons you think.

A number of facial exercises are used to strengthen muscles of the face and help maintain fullness in the areas in which the muscles are located.  Patients who undergo Botox injections will have weakening of the injected muscles for a period to four months or longer. Since these muscles are weakened, other untreated muscles are more likely to respond to expression, emotion or exercise.  The problem with doing facial exercises after having had Botox, is that those untreated muscles may be used so much that new lines or wrinkles could begin to appear.  This is not uncommon following Botox treatment, in which patients "recruit" muscles that they don't usually use and start to develop new habit expressions and lines.  For example, it is common for a patient who has had Botox treatment of frown lines to develop "bunny lines" at the upper nose as a result of crinkling her upper nose, when trying to frown.

With regard to fillers, most of these have "set" quite nicely after one week, so I do not recommend minimizing expression or facial exercise after one week. 

In summary, facial exercises a week after Botox/Filler will not have any adverse effect on the Botox/Filler per se, but may lead to the development of new lines, associated with increased expression of non-weakened muscles.  If the exercises are deep isotonic ones that do not crinkle the skin around nose, eyes, or mouth, then these are probably totally fine to perform regularly.  However, exercises that cause your skin to crinkle or fold are best avoided. 

Sheldon V. Pollack, MD, FRCP

Medical Director, Toronto Cosmetic Skin Surgery Centre, Inc.

By 24 hours post Botox treatment I allow my patients to do any exercise or facial manipulation (such as lying face down on a massage table).  The Botox has already been taken up by the nerve endings as it is supposed  to, or dissipated.  A bit more caution is necessary for fillers, particularly around the mouth.  For example, if there are any lumps or irregularities in a treated area a week after treatment, firm massage in that area can smooth out the area over a short amount of time.  For this reason, I think that repeated facial exercises, depending what they are, how often you repeat them, and where you got your filler, is probably best avoided for a month post your injection.  By that time the filler is better integrated into the tissue, and you are less likely to move it around.

Hope that helps!
Madeline Krauss, M.D.