Does Exercise Impact the Longevity of Botox and Other Fillers?

Exercise is not a known cause for the disappearance of the effects of Botox or fillers. Although there is no scientific studies whose evidence points to the quicker resolution of these products in those that exercise, one does wonder if the increased metabolic rate in pateints that exercise a great deal stimulate the metabolism of the products injected and make them go away more quickly.  Good studies would be difficult to design for such a purpose but would be very interesting.

Other than avoiding exercise for 24 hours after treatment, there is no restrictions for resuming regular activities after these treatments. Patients metabolize these products at different rates. There is no known direct link between exercise and decreased product longevity.

As the panel members discussed, it would be highly unlikely that your excercise regimen is directly affecting the duration of your dermal fillers and Botox treatments.  Although we agree that there is a small percentage of patients that metabolize the product much quicker than the  expected duration, we don't believe the link is exercise in and of itself. 

However, we do instruct patients to not engage in exercise for four hours following their treatment.  This recommendation is based on the potential for diffusion of the product placed.

You may want to consider whether or not technique (dosing and placement) is a factor. Trying a dermal filler that is not a hyaluronic acid may also be beneficial.  Your reference to the claimed longevity of the product used is oftentimes a claim by the manufacturer based upon "touch up" treatments to reach this benchmark.  Also, if your injector didn't use the correct amount of product or tried to use too little over too large of an area, your outcomes will most likely be disappointing.

We have found that this is up to the individual.  Some folks will break down the product more rapidly than others.  Sometimes it is a biochemical thing.  Sometimes the patient is very animated with the facial muscles.  Sometimes patients who are hypermetabolic will break the Botox and/or filler down faster.  Part of the confusion is the answer is that all these things can influence the breakdown of the product, but what role each plays in the individual is hard to measure.

Botox and other products like Dysport work by inactivating the connection between a  nerve and muscle at a microscopic level, and it typically takes  the body about 3-4 months to restore the connection. So the amount of time the effect lasts depends on this healing process, which would not be affected by exercise. Dermal fillers, such as Juvederm and Restylane, work differently because they fill in wrinkles, so when the product dissolves the wrinkle re-appears. Thiss too should not bve affected by exercise but weight loss could change the appearance.