Get the real deal on beauty treatments—real doctors, real reviews, and real photos with real results.Here's how we earn your trust.

See All Reviews
See All Reviews
POSTED UNDER Botox REVIEWS

Drooping Eyebrows. Will They Stay Like This?

ORIGINAL POST

I am 32 and I had Botox for the horizontal lines...

User Avatar
droopybrowsJanuary 5, 2010
$400

I am 32 and I had Botox for the horizontal lines on my forehead and frown lines 1 week ago. While my frown lines are perfect, and my forehead is smooth as a baby's, my eyebrows have dropped significantly.

I told the physician (who is a family member making this a delicate issue)that I only wanted the top creases of my forehead done. I was told that I would have complete movement of my brows. Every day since the treatment my eyebrows drop more and more, I thought after day 3 they would stabalise, but they have not, and I am worried that they will continue to drop to a point that is grotesque. Also, I cannot move my forehead at all. Only the tiniest movement, which even as I type seems to be diminishing. I have also had terrible headaches, and trouble seeing out of my left eye.

Since I am slightly neurotic and a 1st time user maybe this is all perfectly normal, and I am just overly sensitive? Luckily, I have large eyes and I have a large palate between my lid and brows. All in all, no one seems to notice any difference whatsoever, and I suppose I look ok.

I worry that the Botox may not wear off, or I will be left with lower eyebrows, since some studies show that Botox can actually reverse some creases.

Some facts about the procedure and effects:
1. I was given 55mgs of Botox. 8 for my mouth and the remaining 45 (or so) for my forehead.
2. the forehead was injected in 5 pints along the hairline, at my temples, between my eyebrows, over the base of my brows and the arch of my brows.
3. On the left side of my forehead, something was hit that caused bleeding and later a large bruise. At first this seemed to explain why the left eyebrow was lower, but now both eyebrows are relatively the same.
4. I would estimate my brows have dropped 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch (no exaggeration).

The bad: Eyebrow droop, headaches, strained vision out of left eye, no movement of forehead. The good: smooth forehead, no more frown lines, great doctor. I am concerned about the effects of this treatment over time.

Updated on Jan 5, 2010
I am in my 30s, and was given approximately 45units injected in my forehead. I had several horizontal lines on my forehead, I was injected in 5 points along the hairline and 5 points along the brow (1 in-between, 1 along the base, arch and temples). My eyebrows have dropped, I have headaches and I can't move my forehead at all. I believe I was given MUCH to much, and in too many places along my brow. WHEN will this go away, if EVER? Will it take longer since I was given 45 units instead of 15?

Any ideas why this happened or what I can expect? Needless to say, I am extremely concerned about taking "corrective" measures. I also feel extremely badly for my physician/ family member.

droopybrows's provider

Replies (29)

User Avatar
tried but failed
January 8, 2010
I also think you were given way too much botox in your forehead. You could be looking at about 6 months before it starts to wear off. I had a small amount of botox in the forehead (less than ten units) but the effect was potentiated by the antibiotics I was taking at the time so it took on the effect of a very large amount of botox. Kind of like yours. I had similar symptoms to you (headaches, eye strain etc etc etc) that persisted for some months. My brows did not drop as much as yours but my eyes became very small, sunken and beady with puffiness in the upper eye lid. It has been exactly 26 weeks today since the botox. The horizontal lines on my forehead are now worse than they were before because I can move my eyebrows up and down but I still can't frown at all. You will find that your very tight skin will gradually loosen up, which will feel weird at first. Certain parts of your forehead will start to move before others depending on how much botox was put in each place. This is the time that you run the risk of creating new lines by trying to make facial movements against the muscles that are still paralysed. Unfortunately, the reflex to make facial movements is hard to stop and when some of my forehead unfroze I did move it and that is why I now have more horizontal lines than I did before. Before botox I had one above my left eyebrow. Now I have 9. Also, I now have diagonal lines. Resist this urge to 'wear it off' with movement as you will probably end up looking worse after it has worn off like I will. Have a look at the Tua Viso from www.tinarichards.com - you won't be able to use it for some time and it is pretty pricey but you might find it useful in building up and retraining your forehead muscles when the botox wears off. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Cheers
Angie051
January 28, 2010
Hi Tried but Failed, Droopy brows etc... I too had the same problem with botox when I had it about 2 years ago, my eyebrows drooped but I had a beautifully smooth forehead - whixch to choose!!! The botox wore off after about 3 months and 2 years down the line I have succumed to the dreaded needle again yesterday and am already wondering - WHY? The stuff hasn't even kicked in properly yet, it takes about five days for that to happen, but my brow already feels seriously heavy and I can move my forehead now but I know that will change within the next few days. The doctor put these dots all over my head 36 of them in total. You're probably thinking why did I return if I had a bad experience the first time?? Me too!! Well, this Doctor assured me that it the forehead and the muscles within it are very complex and all work for and against each other, so therefore it i very important to relax some of the muscles to achieve this wonderful 'high brow' look that I so wanted. She said that previously I had had too much placed in one area and that is why the droop happended, and of course she promised she know what she was doing and it wouldn't happen this time (different Doctor than b4 I must add). Strange though, my friend had the same thing done but it hasn't happened to her - yet. Is this a normal amount of injections to have? They were all over my head in various places. Also had fillers in my cheeks which I am very VERY pleased with!!!
Carmichael
November 28, 2010
This is an awesome response. I've also tried to "wear it off" by moving my forehead around. I also try gently massaging it. Thank you so much!
Carmichael
November 28, 2010
I had fillers in my cheeks and I would NEVER do it again. They made my face droop even more.
butterflyinthewind
January 9, 2010
I am certainly no doctor only going by my experiance. When placed in the wrong area on the brow the eyebrows will drop. Placed, of course in the correct area it can lift the brow-that is what I have done. 45 units is not that much unless you are saying that all of those units were placed around the hairline. Sorry its hard to tell by your review exactly where they went. Botox does wear off so that is a plus when things don't work out the way they should. I know your situation is different since it is a family memeber. To give you an idea on my very first Botox trip I got 65 units-that was spread out between glab. crows feet-lower forhead a few around the mouth, I am 45. I hope this resolves quickly for you. I know there are many bad stories about Botox-but this is a tiny number on this little site compared to the actual number of people treated each year. Also, not sure how long it has been for you but I continue to get results from Botox for up to two weeks after treatment. Wish you the best.
User Avatar
tried but failed
January 9, 2010
It's great that botox works for you but Droopybrow's personal experience with botox is not a good one. I realise this is only one website and there are many good outcomes with botox, but I think you might be underestimating the amount of adverse events with botox that there really are. In terms of bad aesthetic results from botox, only lid ptosis seems to be addressed as an adverse event. And the statistics vary as to how often this actually occurs. Other unfavourable cosmetic outcomes such as cheek ptosis, festoon formation, lowered brows, exacerbated asymmetry, drooling, affected speech, inablity to smile, crooked smile, puffiness around the eyes, skin damage etc etc are not officially recorded anywhere. Where is my bad result recorded? Where is Droopybrows? Nowhere. We are just two anecdotes on a website. It is important to remember that there is no obligation on a doctor to report a bad cosmetic outcome with botox so I would say that unfavourable aesthetic results from botox are at the very least believed to be less than they really are. There are also lots and lots of people who have no problems with botox for years only to eventually encounter a disaster. I wish you continued success with botox as you are very happy with your results.
butterflyinthewind
January 9, 2010
I respond to questions the best I can tried but failed. Please try and keep your comments to the question posted and not to the posters responding with their opinions or what has worked for them-thanks
User Avatar
tried but failed
January 10, 2010
I won't respond to another of your comments as it obviously bothers you. I have enough to worry about. However, the website is clearly set up so that people can respond to the review itself as well as reply to other people's comments below the review so as to generate discussion about issues raised in the review or by the comments themselves. You will see this occur all over RealSelf.
Carmichael
November 28, 2010
Tried but failed's responses were excellent. Why would you discourage that? That's kind of strange...
coconut1
January 14, 2010
I too had the "droopy brows", although I thought it was a result of my forehead lines being smoothed out. There is a small crease where the line is and if you smooth that out the skin has to go somewhere. It will pass as the botox wears away, about 6 months total. I hesitate to ever have botox injections again due to this very problem. If you have something wrinkled and smooth it out that pushes everything some where and unfortunately with you and I that was down.
See More Botox Reviews
See All Reviews