Thank you for your question and for sharing your photographs 1986Woman. 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.Botox can be placed in the masseter muscle in the lower face to contour the lower face and address pain associated with TMJ. In this area 20-40 units of Botox are used per side. Depending on the reason for the enlargement of the muscle, permanent results may be achieved. For example, some people have a habit of grinding, clenching, or biting their teeth subconsciously. Often times this happens in their sleep when they are not aware of it. Botox placed in this muscle will relax the muscle and the grinding, clenching, and/or biting will decrease. This will reduce the size of the muscle. If the brain gets accustomed to this and the person stops grinding, clenching, or biting, then the muscle will not become enlarged or as enlarged again. However, if the habit starts again, the muscle will likely get larger.To determine if someone is a good candidate for this treatment it is necessary to look at a person’s lower face when biting and comparing it to when the person is not biting. If a bulge is seen on the outer portion of the jawline, then the person is likely a candidate. It can also be felt with the fingers when biting.If I had a patient with the concern described here I would say that she may be a candidate for the treatment discussed above depending on the exam.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.
