Would Smoking, Drinking or Spicy Foods Affect Botox Results?

Question

I just had botox done to masseter, just wondering if smoking or drinking will affect the result, I was told spicy food and seafood are also banned for a week, could you please tell me if thats true because I love them? thanks.

Young R. Cho, MD, PhD · Answer

Thank you for your question. Botox or Dysport can be a very effective way to contour the jaw line by reducing the masseter shadow through the outer jaw skin.  In addition, it can reduce symptoms of jaw clenching or grinding of teeth at night time.  This is an advanced technique that requires a strong understanding of the underlying anatomy.  Some side effects can results in some very unintented effects.  This can include affecting the smile due to diffusion of the Botox into neighboring smile muscles.  Over treatment can also overweaken your jaw muscles making it harder to chew food and causes your jaw muscles to relax too much when you sleep.The injection technique does vary by physical exam and the goals of the treatment.  Facial contouring goals may change the injection sites themselves to affect different portions of the masseter as well as the dose. The strength of the masseters can be felt by palpation and also helps me to determine dosing.  In general, I start with 15- 25 units of Botox (OR 50-75 units of Dysport) per side for most patients.  If they have very strong masseters, then I may increase the dose, but more commonly ask them to return in three weeks for a touch up.  Once you get the desired result, I let patients know that future treatments may require less to maintain the look or the jaw clenching symptoms, especially if they get treated as soon as they notice the symptoms return.  This can be as soon as three to four months, but in some cases, patients report that it lasts six months or more.  I find it depends on the dose we use and how many times we have done the procedure as the duration may lengthen for patients that repeat it regularly.I typically do not recommend anything that makes you hot or sweaty for the first day as it this usually means your vessels are dilated (to release heat) and increases your chances of bruising.  If you are not bruised at all, then you should be fine.

Jerome Edelstein, MD · Answer

Smoking, drinking and spicy foods will not affect the injected Botox, but smoking and drinking in particular could prolong your recovery by making bruising worse.

Donald B. Yoo, MD, FACS · Answer

Drinking will increase the chance of bruising somewhat, but if you already had the treatment with no bruising, then you're safe with respect to that. Smoking and spicy foods will have no effect on your result.

Harold J. Kaplan, MD · Answer

Hi Angie.  We know of no medical reason why nor do we know of any patients that have reported a correlation between Botox results and smoking, drinking or spicy foods.  

	Feel free to do all of the above, although we'd recommend quitting smoking ASAP and limiting the drinking.  Good luck

Ron Shelton, MD · Answer

I can not think of any correlation between the effect of botox on your muscle and eating spicy food or seafood. If there were some damage to the parotid gland or duct, which I can't imagine, then you might be instructed to avoid certain foods to minimize secretion of the saliva which can leak from that area. Botox might decrease sweating in the local area when related to Frey's syndrome but this is not what you're discussing. If these restrictions were discussed by your physician who injected the Botox then you should ask why. Although I have not injected Botox to decrease hypertrophic masseter muscles yet in my practice, I would not say that there is a reason to avoid certain foods, but of course, as a physician I would always encourage people not to smoke, for different reasons.

David Hansen, MD · Answer

Smoking, drinking and eating spicy foods do not affect the outcome of botox or dysport injections so enjoy your life and look beautiful.
Good luck!

Tanveer Janjua, MD · Answer

There is no reason to stop eating certain foods after injecting Botox into the masseter. Botox will take its time to weaken the muscle and reduce its bulk. Nothing that you do on your part will change that.
Regards

Otto Joseph Placik, MD · Answer

I, along with the other physicians here, are not certain why you were advised to avoid these activitiies. They are not traditional limitations or restrictions that we recommend following Botox injections. Drinking may thin your blood and increase the potential for bruising.

Eric M. Joseph, MD · Answer

Spicy food will stimulate your parotid salivary glands, but that should not affect the masseter muscles which lie just in front of them. Did your doctor inject the parotid glands in an attempt to make them smaller? I don't think your diet will affect your result, but a phone call to your physician for clarification is a good idea.
I hope this is helpful for you.

Richard Baxter, MD · Answer

While I would always recommend that you follow your own doctor's advice, I can't think of a reason why spicy foods, smoking, or drinking should affect the results from masseter injections with Botox. It is a large muscle and there may be a concern about bruising if you are too active but that would be a minor issue in my opinion.

Would Smoking, Drinking or Spicy Foods Affect Botox Results?

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