Unable to Lift Right Eyebrow After Botox

I have seen this issue before with Botox injections when administered by those who are not well trained. It
is imperative that your doctor has a very intimate understanding of the muscles of the face. Otherwise, you
run into complications like these. Thankfully, Botox wears off after a few months and you can reapply it with
a licensed professional. In the mean time, be patient, as you will begin to notice increased mobility of your
eyebrow as the weeks go by. In many instances a drooped eyelid recovers in 6weeks-3 months.

Hi Sydney.  As you have seen injecting Botox is not always a trivial exercise.    It sounds like you may have a good result for the right brow, but only if the relaxation of that side has not resulted in eyelid ptosis (sagging) which you also mentioned.

If you still have movement in the left brow, it may be that a bit more product.  As Dr. Huang has pointed out, the look you want to achieve can determine how much product is used so if having your right brow completely relaxed is not what you wanted, you should return and discuss expectations with your injector once more to try and revise it to get it right.

In answer to how long it will last.  It's usually 3-4 months before Botox wears off.

This is a common problem with Botox injections especially when used by people who are not well trained. In order to really use Botox effectively the injector needs to have intimate knowledge of where the muscles in the face are and what they do. Further, the injector must understand the variability and asymmetries that occur in normal anatomy.  All of this knowledge is then put to use and combined with the experience of the injector to achieve a predictable result. This process can not be learned in a weekend course by someone with virtually no knowledge to begin with.  You should return to your doctor and voice your concerns, a simple fix is to have a small amount of Botox placed above the Left eyebrow to lessen the symptoms. However, you will need to wait for several weeks, usually 6 to 8, to see the normal function return.

you may need a little more in the outer left forehead to prevent the Mr. Spock eyebrow, and if the right side has dropped, then you may be able to get a little more lift if more units are injected into the depressor muscles of the glabella (between the eyebrows) and the outer eyebrow orbicularis oris muscle. The drooping will be gone in around three, to four months.

The short answer to your question is that you will need to be patient and wait for return of the affected muscles. From what is stated there are asymmetric results between the two sides of your forehead which is often a greater “tell” that you have received Botox injections. These differences can be lessened with additional and focused injections. Caution is to be placed in having the entire forehead treated as one could develop a temporary, but lowered brow on both sides. Reviewing your current results with your injector is as critical as the selection of the individual performing the injections and any additional therapies.Be healthy and be well,James M. Ridgway, MD, FACS

You will have to wait for the movement in the "unmoveable" eyebrow to return. Your other option is to inject a very small amount above your left eyebrow to diminish the pouch and make your appearance less asymmetric.

Gid Day Down Under,

Return to your injecting physician and have a small amount of Botox placed over the eyebrown that is arching when you lift your brows.  And yes, you will have to wait for your Botox to wear off for you brows to elevate.  It likely will improve over 3 to 8 weeks.  Good luck and be well.

Dr. P

This is an uncommon side effect, but one seen when under-trained or under-experienced persons are injecting Botox. Fortunately, the effects will wear out after 3-4 months at the most, but often sooner. In the meantime, a dermatologist can even out your appearance and in the future prevent this from happening. ~ Dr. Benjamin Barankin, Toronto Dermatology Centre.

It sounds like some of the BoTox spread to your frontalis muscle.  This is not something I see a lot of anymore with BoTox, but can occur when the injection relaxes some of the eyebrow elevators known as the frontalis (forehead muscle).  Usually this effect does wear off much quicker than the rest of the BoTox effect because the "overdose" in that area is modest.  I have had this happen once when Dysport was released to market because it's effect spreads over a larger area.  The effect resolved in 3 weeks in that case.  Good luck. 

Injecting BoTox is fairly easy.  Having someone who intimately understands facial muscular anatomy is essential when dealing with problems that arise from treatments as well as in idealizing treatments!

It sounds like the Botox worked too well on the right side and possible not enough on the left side. For the right side, you probably will have to wait 3-4 months for the function to improve.