Lumps, heavy feeling and tenderness after Botox? (Photo)

Thanks for the question and sorry that you are having these concerns following your Botox injections. We always recommend that you have these injections in the offices of board certified dermatologists or plastic surgeons as we are the true experts in the anatomy in these areas and understand these procedures the best. It would be good to know how much Botox was injected was injected into the glabella and forehead areas and what you were instructed to do after the injections.  While what you are describing has been seen, it is not very common and I do believe that the heaviness and tenderness will resolve – use ice and see if it resolves in the next day or so – if not, please see your provider to see if there is a bruise or something else which can be corrected.

Thank you for your question and for sharing your photograph ktkdmommy4. 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 in the office where I can view the skin in multiple angles and observe wrinkles formed with facial expression. However, I hope the information provided here is useful.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!