POSTED UNDER Botox REVIEWS
Botox Caused Eyebrow Droop, Bad Results!
ORIGINAL POST
I had botox for the first time 9 days ago. I want...
kittykat999March 8, 2015
$500
I had botox for the first time 9 days ago. I want to tell you my experience.
I am 38 years old, and would say I look younger than my age but a few things were beginning to bug me, like nasolabial folds (lines really) and ender eye hollowness casting a bit of a shadow. I initially went to the clinic to discuss these concerns and ask about fillers to these areas, but the clinician said the real problem was not the (mild in their opinion) nasolabial folds or under eye hollowing. They said what was really ageing my face was the grooves across my forehead, which to be honest I had not even thought about because I have had them since my late teens. I am a very expressive person and use my forehead a lot I guess. I had stopped thinking about thm, but the clinician said I would look SO much younger and fresh with these treated so I decided to go with their judgement. Big mistake.
I have always had a VERY slight excess skin on my right eyelid (tiny tiny droop) but my left is fine. I have very very large green eyes that always attract compliments and very high arched eyebrows with a great deal of space to apply eyeliner and eyeshadow. I wear 50s style winged liner most days. The clinician said they would avoid the right temple area as injecting that would maybe drop the already slightly droopier lid, so they injected the left temple area and other forehead areas as well as above the brows. I didn’t know any better.
It looked normal until 3 days ago (day 6) when I woke up to drastically lowered eyebrows, and I mean drastic. The arch is gone. I now have a straight ‘shelf’ of skin sitting on top of each lid, no more space to apply liner and if I try it ends up disappearing back into the fold of skin now covering my eye. My eyes look like they have aged about 20 years, and my eyebrows make me look tired, sad and very angry, they are almost totally flat and have no arch at all.
It is so noticeable because I had such distinctive large eyes before and high arches to the brows. I guess I am one of those people that used their forehead muscles to unconsciously hold up their eyelids (hence the grooved across the head) and now I can’t do that so the forehead has dropped about 2 cm causing ‘crowding’ of the eyelid skin. I HATE the way it looks and am praying it goes back to normal. I have read it can resolve anywhere between 2 weeks and NEVER, so I am in a panic. I had to take the day off work yesterday because it was just so noticeable and I didn't wan't / couldn't face anyone asking me what was wrong with my eyes.
Let me reiterate that this is not an eyeLID droop that can be fixed with eyedrops - this is an eyeBROW droop, which drops do nothing for.
I have been googling madly to see if there is any way to fix this, and despite some people saying that MORE botox can help (no thanks!) it can also make the problem worse so I am praying that the droop corrects itseld before the botox wears off and that it evntually does go back to normal. I don't think I will ever be so glad to see my wrinkles (or SCARS as the clinician called them!) again!
I also read that if you try to exercise, as hard as you can, the paralysed muscles, that it can make the botox wear off more quicly, and that heat also helps so I have been having lots of hot baths and exercising what little control I have left over my brow.
The terrible thing about all this is that my forehead is as smooth as glass, but it is just not worth it to sacrifice your eyes. What do you look at when you talk to someone? Their eyes, not their forehead! It seems to me that botox (for me) is always going to be a trade-off between smooth forehead and hooded eyes with flat eyebrows. It's just not worth it.
And whats more it cost me £300 to look this way! I will be mortified to go into work next week and can't think of what to say. I feel vain, foolish and angry at myself for succumbing to what someone else thinks I should look like. I feel like an idiot.
I have been wearing my glasses instead of my contact lenses to try and disguise it a bit but I am wishing away the time this was supposed to be effective and the whole thing is just a total disaster.
In summary, if like me, you have large round eyes and high eyebrows and a tendency to use your brow to elevate your eyelids (however slight), do NOT get botox to your forehead. Even a tiny droop of a few millimetres is very noticeable, very ageing, and very unflattering. It IS possible to look older with botox, less lines does not necessarily mean looking younger, it means looking frozen, unhuman and dead behind the eyes.
I will try to update as the weeks go by if there is any improvement in the eyebrow ptosis. I will be devastated if this is permanent.
I am 38 years old, and would say I look younger than my age but a few things were beginning to bug me, like nasolabial folds (lines really) and ender eye hollowness casting a bit of a shadow. I initially went to the clinic to discuss these concerns and ask about fillers to these areas, but the clinician said the real problem was not the (mild in their opinion) nasolabial folds or under eye hollowing. They said what was really ageing my face was the grooves across my forehead, which to be honest I had not even thought about because I have had them since my late teens. I am a very expressive person and use my forehead a lot I guess. I had stopped thinking about thm, but the clinician said I would look SO much younger and fresh with these treated so I decided to go with their judgement. Big mistake.
I have always had a VERY slight excess skin on my right eyelid (tiny tiny droop) but my left is fine. I have very very large green eyes that always attract compliments and very high arched eyebrows with a great deal of space to apply eyeliner and eyeshadow. I wear 50s style winged liner most days. The clinician said they would avoid the right temple area as injecting that would maybe drop the already slightly droopier lid, so they injected the left temple area and other forehead areas as well as above the brows. I didn’t know any better.
It looked normal until 3 days ago (day 6) when I woke up to drastically lowered eyebrows, and I mean drastic. The arch is gone. I now have a straight ‘shelf’ of skin sitting on top of each lid, no more space to apply liner and if I try it ends up disappearing back into the fold of skin now covering my eye. My eyes look like they have aged about 20 years, and my eyebrows make me look tired, sad and very angry, they are almost totally flat and have no arch at all.
It is so noticeable because I had such distinctive large eyes before and high arches to the brows. I guess I am one of those people that used their forehead muscles to unconsciously hold up their eyelids (hence the grooved across the head) and now I can’t do that so the forehead has dropped about 2 cm causing ‘crowding’ of the eyelid skin. I HATE the way it looks and am praying it goes back to normal. I have read it can resolve anywhere between 2 weeks and NEVER, so I am in a panic. I had to take the day off work yesterday because it was just so noticeable and I didn't wan't / couldn't face anyone asking me what was wrong with my eyes.
Let me reiterate that this is not an eyeLID droop that can be fixed with eyedrops - this is an eyeBROW droop, which drops do nothing for.
I have been googling madly to see if there is any way to fix this, and despite some people saying that MORE botox can help (no thanks!) it can also make the problem worse so I am praying that the droop corrects itseld before the botox wears off and that it evntually does go back to normal. I don't think I will ever be so glad to see my wrinkles (or SCARS as the clinician called them!) again!
I also read that if you try to exercise, as hard as you can, the paralysed muscles, that it can make the botox wear off more quicly, and that heat also helps so I have been having lots of hot baths and exercising what little control I have left over my brow.
The terrible thing about all this is that my forehead is as smooth as glass, but it is just not worth it to sacrifice your eyes. What do you look at when you talk to someone? Their eyes, not their forehead! It seems to me that botox (for me) is always going to be a trade-off between smooth forehead and hooded eyes with flat eyebrows. It's just not worth it.
And whats more it cost me £300 to look this way! I will be mortified to go into work next week and can't think of what to say. I feel vain, foolish and angry at myself for succumbing to what someone else thinks I should look like. I feel like an idiot.
I have been wearing my glasses instead of my contact lenses to try and disguise it a bit but I am wishing away the time this was supposed to be effective and the whole thing is just a total disaster.
In summary, if like me, you have large round eyes and high eyebrows and a tendency to use your brow to elevate your eyelids (however slight), do NOT get botox to your forehead. Even a tiny droop of a few millimetres is very noticeable, very ageing, and very unflattering. It IS possible to look older with botox, less lines does not necessarily mean looking younger, it means looking frozen, unhuman and dead behind the eyes.
I will try to update as the weeks go by if there is any improvement in the eyebrow ptosis. I will be devastated if this is permanent.
UPDATED FROM kittykat999
update....
kittykat999March 18, 2015
Updated 18/3/15 - I went back for my two week review and explained my problem, it was not really taken seriously and dismissed as 'natural ageing' (in 2 weeks?). Anyway, against my better judgement I had the extra injections, because at this point I couldn't see how much lower the brow could possibly get. The next three days it DID get even worse (constant hooding of the eyes) but I started on a vigorous exercise programme, concentrating all my effort looking in the mirror to 'twitch' and move the brow as mush as I could for 10 minute blocks. I am convinced this has done something, because the last two days I have woken up to some hooding of the eyes but it gradually pulls up to an acceptable level during the next few hours (not normal though) so as to be not so noticeable. The actual shape of the eyebrows themselves is still pretty flat, and I have noticed people looking at me a bit different (second glances at my face/forehead) so they know something is different but nobody has come out and said anything to me.
the slight 'winging' of the eyebrows has been corrected by the extra botox but the drooping, to me, is just not worth the price of a smooth head. My eyes were my best feature before this and now they look tired and sad.
The odd thing about the facial exercise is that, if you isolate and concentrate very very hard, you can still see some twitching of the muscle. You need to force it but after a few sessions of doing this I was able to raise my brow in very short bursts, it was almost as if it had a mind of its own and wasn't attached to me, but gradually it got easier over the days and I convinced this has helped give some muscle tone back to the brow, enabling me to unconsciously 'lift' the area again. I think botox might not last very long on me, and am hoping all goes back to normal through my exercise regime and hot baths etc. I know there is no 'clinical' evidence to support this but I have read many anecdotal accounts of botox not lasting in people who regularly have hot baths/saunas and exercise the paralysed muscles frequently, as well as general exercise which helps to metabolize the botox quicker. Who knows, but I seem to have made some positive progress to the point where my eyes (although not normal for me) don't look as freaky and saggy anymore. I will update in a few days again.
the slight 'winging' of the eyebrows has been corrected by the extra botox but the drooping, to me, is just not worth the price of a smooth head. My eyes were my best feature before this and now they look tired and sad.
The odd thing about the facial exercise is that, if you isolate and concentrate very very hard, you can still see some twitching of the muscle. You need to force it but after a few sessions of doing this I was able to raise my brow in very short bursts, it was almost as if it had a mind of its own and wasn't attached to me, but gradually it got easier over the days and I convinced this has helped give some muscle tone back to the brow, enabling me to unconsciously 'lift' the area again. I think botox might not last very long on me, and am hoping all goes back to normal through my exercise regime and hot baths etc. I know there is no 'clinical' evidence to support this but I have read many anecdotal accounts of botox not lasting in people who regularly have hot baths/saunas and exercise the paralysed muscles frequently, as well as general exercise which helps to metabolize the botox quicker. Who knows, but I seem to have made some positive progress to the point where my eyes (although not normal for me) don't look as freaky and saggy anymore. I will update in a few days again.
Replies (9)
March 23, 2015
I wish I had read ur posts a week earlier. Had 32 units on my forehead and suffering from the same issues. Frozen and angry face. Dropped brows. I am hoping that because this was my first time - never again - the botox will wear off sooner. Also walking around in glasses. Please update on ur progress. Good luck.
March 25, 2015
Phil1984, I am reporting some positive progress this afternoon! I can make horizontal forehead lines again when I try, and my eyebrows definitely are coming back up (it's a very small change but I can see it!). If I had desired the ultra frozen botox look, I may have been very annoyed that the botox was starting to wera off - I only had my first injections on 26th Feb so not even a month ago. The top up injections were done on 10th March, but I can definitely move my head a lot more today! The sagging over the eyelid is worse by FAR in the morning, especially when I don't try to sleep with my head elevated. Throughout the day it gradually gets a bit better but this afternoon alone has shown a massive improvement. I have been exercising my brow area by lifting it as high as possible 500 times a day. I know that sounds excessive but I was so desperate for it to wear off. Also applying hot washcloths to the head seemed to help while in a hot bath. I hope you see some improvement soon!
March 25, 2015
That's great news! Had mine on 11 March. Worst two weeks of my life!!!! Ok that gives me hope! Can't wait for my face to get back to normal. I'm Asian - so I didn't have big eyes to begin with and Ive completely lost any lids or visible lashes. Do u kno how many units u had overall? I think mine was really excessive. Thanks so much for the update! I have not had any change but hoping to see some improvement in time. Fingers crossed. Agree that in the morning it's the worst!
July 11, 2015
Update....
July 11, 2015
Ok, so its now almost 5 months since the botox.
Here's where I am now. The sagging of the upper lids is still evident to me, especially in the morning. It corrects itself by mid afternoon but id always evident again the following morning. The forehead lines are pretty much back, maybe not quite so deep, BUT there are NEW LINES along the upper part of my forehead which were NEVER there before! I don't care what any doctor says, I did NOT have upper forehead lines before botox, it's not the standard answer of "oh, you just got used to the botoxed look and forgot what you looked like before" etc etc. I did NOT have lines along my upper forehead prior to botox. I don't know if it was all the extra forehead movement I was doing to try to wear off the botox more quickly or if the botox itself has caused this, but in a way I look worse now than before I started because, although the main creases are not yet as deep, there are more of them. So I'm now wondering if I go back (yeas I know how ridiculous this is) is it possible to have the botox placed a)higher and b) less of it, so that I can try to avoid the eyebrow droop? Who knows. I wish I had never started on this journey, truly. I was happier before I ever set foot in that clinic but now I have become preoccupied with this and as a result I feel I am committed to continuing. I will let you know what I decide. For now, I am looking worse than I did when I started. I have photographs to prove it but I won't post them on here. If you have not yet taken the botox plunge, my advice would be don't do it. Be happy with what you have.
Here's where I am now. The sagging of the upper lids is still evident to me, especially in the morning. It corrects itself by mid afternoon but id always evident again the following morning. The forehead lines are pretty much back, maybe not quite so deep, BUT there are NEW LINES along the upper part of my forehead which were NEVER there before! I don't care what any doctor says, I did NOT have upper forehead lines before botox, it's not the standard answer of "oh, you just got used to the botoxed look and forgot what you looked like before" etc etc. I did NOT have lines along my upper forehead prior to botox. I don't know if it was all the extra forehead movement I was doing to try to wear off the botox more quickly or if the botox itself has caused this, but in a way I look worse now than before I started because, although the main creases are not yet as deep, there are more of them. So I'm now wondering if I go back (yeas I know how ridiculous this is) is it possible to have the botox placed a)higher and b) less of it, so that I can try to avoid the eyebrow droop? Who knows. I wish I had never started on this journey, truly. I was happier before I ever set foot in that clinic but now I have become preoccupied with this and as a result I feel I am committed to continuing. I will let you know what I decide. For now, I am looking worse than I did when I started. I have photographs to prove it but I won't post them on here. If you have not yet taken the botox plunge, my advice would be don't do it. Be happy with what you have.
July 19, 2015
Hi there. I am about four and a half months post and am going through exactly the same thing. all the posts from doctors say that everything should return to normal between 3 to 6 months because the muscles need time to "retrain" even though the average clinical wear off time of botox is four months. I am hoping this is the case with us - this waiting game is very frustrating. I completely agree with ur advice - I was much happier with my face before the procedure. I think it is also the fact that my doctor cannot do much to reverse the situation except say that it is "temporary". Just know that you are not alone and wishing you a speedy recovery and improvement for both of us on your next post.
Replies (4)
Anyway, against my better judgement, I let them do Botox on my forehead and the end result is the same as you: my eyelids dropped even more, especially the inner brows and they're frozen, making me look like Jack Nicholson. I absolutely hate it! And because I have some bags under my eyes from not sleeping well, it makes me look even more angry and now tired and old! Ugh.
Worst mistake of my life. I'm never doing this again. I'm going to try and so what you did and take hot baths every single day, and maybe put a hot towel on my face. Also I do exercise but what kind of exercise do you do? Like lifting heavy weights? Cardio? I'd really like to know because I want this to wear off since I'm travelling in a month and a half and I don't want to look tired or angry. Thanks a lot and keep us posted.