Sagging eyelid skin can be a cosmetic and medical concern. Depending on the severity of your condition, Botox can help. An injection of the neurotoxin in your forehead and around your eyebrows can effectively treat a brow that droops slightly and minor sagging skin of the eyelids.
When Botox is applied to problem areas around the eyebrows, the muscles relax and the skin on top of them becomes smoother. The muscles around the eyebrows are pulled upwards, elevating the eyebrows and making a patient's eyes appear more open.
Botox can be injected into the forehead to treat the wrinkles but the risk in an inexperienced injector is lowering the eyes and creating puffiness and the shape that you describe.
Botox is a great facial injection and can "open up" the eyes and make you look more refreshed. However, if Botox is injected too low in your forehead it can make the eyes appear smaller and cause lid "heaviness". The results will last about three months and get much better over time and will not be permanent.
Most of us are familiar with the benefits of BOTOX for smoothing forehead lines and wrinkles, but you may be surprised to learn that BOTOX can also help to lift drooping brows and correct hooded eyes in some patients.
These shots work by relaxing underlying muscles to smooth your skin on the outside and relaxing the muscles between the brows. This allows the forehead muscles to pull up the now-relaxed muscles between the brows, thereby elevating the brows and opening up the eyes.
Yes, Botox can cause droopy eyelids if it is injected in the wrong place or if too much is used. Because Botox is a muscle relaxing toxin, if it is injected into the muscles that hold the eyelids or eyebrows up, then this can cause the muscles that pull the eyelids down to be more emphasised.
Specifically, injections on the forehead or between the eyes may spread into the eyebrows and cause the brow to lower, causing a droopy eyelid. In most cases, droopy eyelid occurs between one and three weeks after treatment, and patients typically experience this adverse effect for just a few weeks.
Between the eyes
Occasionally, some of the Botox seeps into the upper eyelid and paralyzes the levator palpebrae — the muscle that holds the upper eyelid up. If this muscle is paralyzed, the upper eyelid will droop.
BOTOX targets the muscles in your face to freeze them and help the skin relax to reduce fine lines and wrinkles. This procedure can also be used to treat and lift hooded eyes if the cause of the hooded eyes is eyebrow position or drooping eyebrows.
Botox alone strategically placed can elongate the cat-eye temporarily. However, not as profoundly and permanently is a combination of lateral canthoplasty. Furthermore, this repositions the tissue of the upper and lower eyelid ligaments. It creates a slightly higher position on the bony orbital rim.
Botox is a great tool for lifting heavy upper lids and sagging eyebrows. I see many patients in their 20's, 30's and 40's that are bothered by a slight drop of the brow and heaviness on the upper eyelids. When strategically placed, Botox lifts the brow and improves heavy upper eyelids.
Botox Injection Mistakes: Where Not to Inject Botox
Injecting the frontalis muscles (the two main forehead muscles above the eyebrows) instead of the corrugator supercilii muscle (smaller muscles around the eyebrows) can cause a “Mephisto Effect” or “Spock brows” — comically arched eyebrows.
If you have hooded eyes because of a slight low eyebrow or minor brow drooping, Botox is a potential short-term solution. Your surgeon may inject Botox into the outside of the eyebrow, which lifts the brow and upper lid slightly.
Botox injections for the forehead are treatments to smooth horizontal lines and vertical wrinkles between the eyes. The injections work to relax the muscles that cause these wrinkles to form.
If the Botox is placed too low or if it migrates down, the Botox can affect the lower part of the muscle and cause a droopy eyebrow. Sometimes when your eyebrow goes down, it can make your upper eyelid heavy too, making it look like droopy eyelids.
Too much Botox in the frontalis muscles can cause the eyebrows to arch too high on the forehead. The face looks surprised all the time. Too much Botox in the forehead muscles can cause the eyebrows to droop, making the upper eyelids look very heavy and hooded. The face may look angry or sad all the time.
Answer: Droopy eyes from botox
Unfortunately this can occur when botox is injected into the forehead muscles. Sometimes injecting into the lateral edge of the brow may help to lift the eyes and sometimes eye drops will counteract the effects of the botox. You should discuss this with your injector.
These products temporarily block signals from nerves to muscles. The injected muscles can't contract or have the same influence on your facial features. Targeting your upper face with BOTOX® injections will elevate your brows and give you the illusion of bigger eyes.
Botox or Dysport should not be represented as lifting the corner of the eye. The main effect is on the eyebrow areas which can be lifted nicely and result in less droopy, less tired appearing eyes.
Botulinum toxin injection makes the forehead appear bigger. Botox cosmetic procedure functions well at creating an extended forehead and brow lift because it calms the forehead muscle. The skin is no longer pulled down by the relaxed muscles.
Heavy brows and the feeling of drooping.
This feeling and look comes from treatment of the forehead muscles called the frontalis. These muscles move the brows up and in certain cases after Botox treatment, the relaxed muscle then makes the brows drop.
Botox may cause your eyebrows to look slightly uneven for as long as the treatment lasts. It's also possible that the “frozen” appearance of the muscle will slightly relax a couple of days or weeks after you first get the injections.
Because the frontalis muscle is an eyebrow elevator, placing too much product too far laterally in the forehead can entirely block the frontalis muscle and lead to a droopy eyebrow. In patients who are younger, typically in their mid-30s to early 40s, usually this is not a significant consequence.
The next option for correction, which surprises many patients, is that you can treat an eyelid ptosis, even one caused by botulinum toxin injections, with MORE botulinum toxin! The eyelid, like most moving structures in the body has muscles which oppose each other.