Extremely Painful Botox Injections

Botox injections should not be painful.  Depending on the area and technique, the feelings should range from imperceptible to mild discomfort.  It should never be very painful.  If you experienced severe pain with multiple injections, my first suspicion is that the injector mixed sterile water with the Botox instead of saline with the Botox.  This does indeed cause significant pain with injection.  Other than that, unless they used a large gauge needle (I use 31 gauge), there really isn't any reason for it to be that painful in multiple areas.  There are several other techniques to minimize the discomfort including numbing the area with a spray or ice, gating techniques, superficial injections, etc.  I would strongly recommend seeing a different injector for hopefully a different experience.

Hello 19103.  Generally speaking our patients do not have trouble with pain from Botox injections.  As has been suggested by another practitioner, it may have something to do with the gauge (size) of the needle, normally very small needles are used for Botox.  We also periodically have a patient that uses a cold pack for a few seconds at the injection sites and this helps numb the area temporarily before the injection.

A steady and gentle hand can also help minimize any discomfort.  Hope this helps and good luck.

slow injections, small needles and not too deep an injection should make botox injections not very painful.  If the bone were touched by the needle deeply, or the injection very quick or the needle larger than necessary then the injections might be more painful. botox should be diluted prior to use and if the diluent used was not the water that should be but some other solution, then maybe it hurt more for that reason.

There are several reasons for this. Occasionally the Botox can be refrigerated and cause pain due to the temperature difference. Other reasons include the dliuent; the preservative in the saline and buffered preparation may actually make it less painful. Numerous smaller volume injections versus larger bolus injections may also diminish the pain. In any event, it is possible to irritate a nerve which can cause pain that radiates to the forehead or scalp.

Painful Botox injection most likely due to a dull needle. Often when drawing up the injection, the needle can be dulled, which adds to the discomfort of the injection.