Swelling, Under Eye Bulges, Eye Pain, and Other Effects After Botox - Philadelphia, PA

FIIRST BOTOX ISSUE, 2007: I had a couple treatments that worked ok on the forehead - nothing but some bruising. My eyes were like deer in headlights unnatural from the injections around the crows feet, but I liked the smooth forehead.

Then the third treatment.. right before New Years.

Despite using the topical anesthetic they gave me, I noticed it was more painful going in the skin - intense pressure. Im not sure why or if it was the amount of diluent used. I even asked about pain meds because my head was throbbing already. When I got home I noticed a little more swelling than normal but when I woke up the next day, I looked like a neanderthal.

My protruding forehead - more on one side than the other was accompanied by the eyeld drooping over my left eye. I always had a thin face and my cheeks were puffed out so much you couldnt see any bones. For the next few days I couldnt go out in public.

The doctor told me someone else had a reaction that day , but his office staff later told me they never had any reactions that day and he later changed his story and told me he's never had a reaction with Botox like this and none from the same batch. It was fishy but I guess he was trying to cover himself because it certainly wasnt on the waiver I had to sign.

But that was the beginning.

When the swelling began to go down, I noticed deep dark bruises under my eyes and "trenches" i had never had there because of the puffed up cheeks. And to top it off, the Botox had tracked to one side of my face so I had one joker eyebrow that raised and the other lid drooped down over my eye. I wore glasses for a month to hide this.

3 months later there was still protrusion in the forehead and swelling under the eyes and in the cheeks, though the dark circles got light enough to cover the bags with makeup. 6 months later... Still trenches under the eyes I never had because the residual swelling in my cheeks have created this.

What little Botox effect is gone so I have all my old wrinkles plus the new ones and worse crows feet. I cant say it was the Botox for sure, or a reaction to something else in the diluent or the amount of it, or even where it got injected. I'll never know - he wiped his hands clean of it and couldve cared less. I just need to move on and I can tell you this hell has not been worth it.

My face was so much younger looking before.

Note Jan, 2010: This issue took 7-8 months to resolve with residual swelling in places sometimes years later.

Updated: Jan. 27, 2010

NEW BOTOX ISSUE - DIFFERENT DOCTOR, DIFFERENT SIDE EFFECTS

I fall into the category of 'if it can go wrong in .0001% of patients, that will be me.' As I was trying to get past my recent Juvederm disasters from August that deformed my mouth and cheeks, I decided to have Botox for frown lines done at Christmas time, 2009. Had the swelling issue (above) 3 years ago with Botox, but none 4 times since, after my switching doctor, so I wasn't concerned it was a risk. Well because I can't go back to the Botox doc because she really really messed up my lips, I tried a new guy. It's always a concern when you go to someone new, but since he's an oculoplastic surgeon, and my neighbor goes to him, I gave it the best chance I could.

What I first noticed when I got the injection, which was similar to the time I had my other Botox reaction, was that it really hurt. I tolerate pain well, and know what a Botox injection feels like, so this was my first red flag. I saw someone on this site had mentioned very painful shots as well when they had a reaction. May be nothing, but wanted to note it. When I left the office, I remember my left eye felt very stiff on the side and underneath the outer corner. Within 3 days I noticed to my horror bulgy rims of the lids under my eyes (see picture), and a noticeable hollow around my left eye (See other picture - I'm pointing to the hollow) and the worst dryness (in both eyes) you can imagine. I couldn't sleep at night because the throbbing eye pain was unbearable - I'd have to put pressure on my eyes to stop it. Eyes so heavy and sore when I woke up it was like I never slept. During the day, no throbbing, just dryness and bloodshot. So update on that: the pain/dryness went away after 3 weeks.

Other side effects included 2 black eyes (tear troughs), one freakishly smaller right eye of a different shape - though both eyes looked smaller and sunken in, in general. Within 2 weeks I also developed a second layer of what I will call "fat pad protrusions" (because that's exactly why I think they are), which are right above the tear trough, but directly below the "eyelid bulges." They scare me the most - never had anything like them.

My doctor says the amount injected, even if it all migrated to my eye muscle, couldnt have done this, but what else could it be really? Given the timing, and the similarity to others experience on here. I will chalk some of the eyelid swelling to edema, but I believe some of this reaction is due to muscle paralysis and I'm living proof that it can happen even if you don't get your crows feet injected. I only had 30 units total injections in frown lines, upper forehead (26), and 2 units each next to brows.

Update at 1.5 months: The black eyes have gotten better, the right eye is still weirdly smaller than the left and higher for sure, but the shapes have evened out. The under-eye bulges are still there, but going down a hair bit. The hollow feels a little less hollow when I touch it (more padded). Unfortunately, the fat pad herniations have not gotten any better, and this is what I'm most scared of being permanent. I will update in 2 more months. Good luck to all the women going through this, I'm sure we will eventually go back to our real eyes. But then we will see our real wrinkles and want to do this again. Vicious cycle. I'd love to know that this wasn't related to Botox, because I love the effects when it does work and nothing goes wrong. But when stuff goes wrong, it goes scarily wrong.