2 weeks post Botox, eyelid is droopy, will eye drops help to make side effects wear off quicker? Advice? (photos)

Question

Hi I’ve had my Botox done over two weeks ago and my eyebrows are perfectly fine but my left eyelid is really droopy. I look like I have a lazy eye and look abit paralysed on the left side of the face. Is there anything that I can do to make this wear off quicker as I feel so conscious. Someone said about drops but I don’t know what one to use. Can anyone help please

Hung William Song, MD · Answer

You can try Over the counter Nafcon-A or Vasocon to help relieve the droopy symptoms until the Botox wears off a bit. If this does not help you can ask your doctor for a prescription for Lopidine. Please note the eye drops are used "off label" for this which means they are not approved by the FDA for treating side effects of Botox.

John Tang, MD · Answer

Unfortunately, the eye drops (Lopidine) will not make the Botox wear off any faster.  It may help to make it look a little better as it raises the eyelid by about 1-2 mm until it wears off.  I find that the worse time of droopiness is the 2nd week post injection but it will start to fade in 4-6 weeks before it eventually disappears in approximately 3 months.

Jason Emer, MD · Answer

Yes, a combination of iopidine drops with venus legacy and thermage will help improve drooping eyelids. Botox results resolve in 3-4 months. Best, Dr. Emer

Christopher J. Davidson, MD, FACS · Answer

Thank you for your question and photograph.  Prescription eye drops will help somewhat for this rare circumstance.  My advice is to exercise the lid using the muscles that are not affected.  The botox treatment will be worn off in approximately 3-4 months.  Best of luck.

Monika Soni, MD · Answer

Thank you for your question. This is a rare complication of Botox and you can use Iopidine eye drops to help open your eyelids. However, eye drops will not shorten the effect of your Botox treatment. Your eyelids will return to their position once your Botox wears off in 3-6 months. I recommend having a follow up with your injector for an evaluation. Best of Luck!

Anna Sylwestrowicz, MD, FRCP(C) · Answer

Apraclonidine (Lopidine) eye drops are used in glaucoma therapy. They are sympathomimetic, which means they stimulate alpha 2 receptors, and create a "fight or flight" reaction opening your eye a little.
This action is temporary. The good news is that Botox's peak effect is in the first month and that it will get better. Gently lifting your eyelid and icing a little over the area sometimes helps. Also very gentle upward massage with a facial massaging device will sometimes give a little lift (as long as there is not too much Botox in the frontalis muscle).
Dr. Anna Sylwestrowicz MD, FRCP(C)
Victoria, BC

Mazen Arafeh, MD · Answer

This is one of the very few and certainly very annoying unwanted events possible after Botox treatment. Luckily, it does not leave any long term disability or damage to the muscles.
If you give it some time (4-6 weeks usually), it will gradually resolve by itself. But in many cases this combination of treatments have significantly reduced that recovery time, so give it a shot:
1. Eye drops: iopidine (apraclonidine ophthalmic solution) 0.5% - 1 drop every 8 hours (Caution: you are NOT allowed to use it if you are hypertensive)
2. Monopolar radiofrequency (RF) - 3 sessions (machine brand is not important)
Good luck and hope the problem will get resolved at the soonest.

Michael L. Schwartz, MD · Answer

Lopidine drops can help. Fortunately this effect usually goes away faster then routine Botox as it as typically an effect of dispersement as opposed to direct injection in those muscles. Talk to your doctor about options. (Ultimately it will resolve completely)

Leonard Grossman, MD · Answer

The eye drops will simply stimulate the muscle or make it a little stronger, but it's not going to help with botox wearing off any quicker. Your condition will improve over the next few weeks, but it may take 4 months to fully resolve. Good luck from New York City

Shaun Patel, MD · Answer

Certain prescription eyedrops will help open up your eyelids but it will not shorten the effect of the Botox treatment. You will need to get a prescription for the Iopidine eyedrops from your physician. The eyelids will return to their normal position once the Botox wears off after 3-4 months. You will likely see some improvement before then though. This is a rare but not unseen complication of Botox injection. Your injector may have injected too close the eyes allowing the Botox to diffuse into the eyelid musculature.

2 weeks post Botox, eyelid is droopy, will eye drops help to make side effects wear off quicker? Advice? (photos)

Answers (10)

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