Can Botox actually cause new wrinkles to develop?

New lines can form in some patients using Botox. This is specially seen in patients who have an extremely expressive face. But with an experienced injector most of this can be avoided. Good luck from New York City

Thank you for your question ckpc. 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.A phenomenon seen with Botox is called muscle
recruitment and compensation. When a muscle has been relaxed with Botox,
sometimes other muscles are recruited and contract when one attempts to make
the facial expression. This serves to compensate for the inability of the
primary muscle to contract. A common example is the bunny lines (caused by
contraction of the nasalis muscle) that are seen on the sides of the upper nose
after treatment with Botox in the glabella or for the crow's feet. Since the
muscles in the treated area are relaxed, the nasalis muscle contracts in an
attempt to compensate for this loss when one frowns or smiles. In such a
situation, the bunny lines can be treated with a small amount of Botox (2-4
units per side). In the lower face, compensatory recruitment can occur when the
platysma muscle in the neck contracts after muscles in the lower face have been
relaxed with Botox. Similarly, this muscle can be relaxed with Botox as well.
For my patients, I usually use approximately 10 units per band. If placed
properly it does not affect other muscles. Relaxing the platysma muscle may
also lead to an improvement of jowls and jawline definition. When such
recruitment occurs, I recommend prophylactic (preventive) treatment of the
recruited muscles at the next treatment.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.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!