Cannot Drink from a Cup or a Bottle of Water After Botox Above Lip, Is this Normal? (photo)

It is very common for some bruising to appear after an injection treatment, and your photo indicates that it's limited, which is a good sign. The bruising will gradually go away within two weeks or so. Unfortunately, your administrated Botox may have been too much and caused too many muscles to relax. For this to resolve, you'll have to wait for the Botox effects to go away, which could be a few months.

I suggest you wait for about 2 weeks before assessing your results. At the two week mark, return to your injector and discuss your concerns if you still don't like your results. Swelling, redness, discomfort and possibly bruising during the first few days following the injection is common. Most of this settles down within 3 days. Occasionally, the swelling can last up to one week, as well as bruising.

Regarding the Radiesse injections it is very normal to bruise following any injection involving multiple needle sticks into your face or lips. I recommend to my patients during a consultation to stop all supplements or medications IF possible that thins the blood. This decreases the risk of bruising. Botox injected into the upper lip for vertical lines will relax the orbicularis oris muscle around your mouth, making it difficult to spit after brushing your teeth or take a sip of water out of a bottle due to the inability to fully purse your lips. The bruising is normal and will fade away. The Botox will gradually fade within 3-4 months.

From what you are describing, you are having the expected results from Botox injections around your mouth. If you were unaware of the expectations and how this would affect you, you might want to revisit your provider and learn about the benefits and risks of product placed in certain areas. It is normal to experience bruising and swelling post any dermal filler injection and if you have concerns, make an appointment for further assessment.

There are a number of patients who have benefitted from this off-label treatment by me, and other doctors, but Botox injected into the upper lip needs to have very concentrated small units of Botox liquid injected and only in very few insertion sites and at the right level of the upper or lower skin-colored lips (not the red lips). This can help minimize pursing and soften the lines. It is an excellent adjunct for fillers but I tell all my patients in advance that there can be difficulty eating, drinking, they may exhibit some dribbling, have difficultry pronouncing certain letters, such as "w', brushing teeth, etc. I do not offer it to musicians who play wind instruments or singers and discourage newscasters and other public speakers from doing this. The bruising from Radiesse in the smile folds will go away in two weeks or so. There can be stiffness in these areas that soften over time.

The fine lines around your mouth are caused by pursing your lips with your orbicularis oris muscles, such as when you suck on a straw, smoke a cigarette (bad), speak, or give a kiss. Paralyzing your lip muscles may decrease or even eliminate those tiny lines, but at the cost of being unable to use your lip muscles for the functions you describe. Too much Botox!

Unfortunately, there is no antidote but time, as your body will gradually re-grow new receptors for the nerve-muscle impulses. Radiesse is a good filler for deep lines like the nasolabial folds, but is not advised for fine lines around the mouth. HA fillers like Juvederm and Restylane are best for these fine lines, or a chemical peel or laser resurfacing can reduce or eliminate those fine lines for a long time. Good luck; I am sorry your injector did not advise you appropriately! This should have been avoided.

I do not use Botox in the upper lip because of the problems that you are experiencing.  I prefer fillers for improvement in the upper lip lines.  Fine fillers such as Restylane work well for softening the lip vertical wrinkles and improving the shape of the white roll (the outer border of the lip).  Fillers are often enough to improve the lines so lipstick doesn't bleed out any more.  The problem with Botox is that the lines around the mouth typically aren't just dynamic wrinkles (meaning you only see them with motion) but somewhat static wrinkles (they are always present).  Since that is the case Botox doesn't really take care of the problem and it has the risk of weakening the lip and causing functional problems.  The good thing is that it is not permanent and the unfortunate result will wear off over time.

I am so sorry to learn of your difficulties with this recent treatment.  The bruising can be normal.  However the weakness may very well be due to the "small amount of botox."  Unfortunately even a small amount of can cause significant mouth weakness.  This can improve after a couple of weeks or persist for months.

Botox is an excellent off-label treatment for lip lines, but only a tiny amount should be used.  It is possible to experience difficuly drinking from a water bottle, saying P and B, and

Yes, Botox, as well as all injectables can cause bruising that may last for up to two weeks.  Also, Botox causes muscles relaxation (or weakness) in the nearby muscles where injected and this can cause, difficulty with motor function of your lips.  Usually, this effect washes away within several weeks or less, but may last longer.  Fewer units of Botox may have avoided this side effect.  However, you may want to avoid Botox in your upper lip in the future.