Botox
22 June 2022
Ever met someone and wondered whether there was something wrong with the way they look- a little too much Botox perhaps? Stiff looking forehead or tight looking facial expressions. Or it could be that they’re looking like Captain Spock or asymmetry in their faces that didn’t use to be there. If you’re noticing any of these signs- it could be a case of Botox gone wrong with too much Botox injections.
In this blogpost, let’s take a closer look at real life examples of Botox gone bad- and how you can avoid becoming a classic tale of too much Botox. Don’t get me wrong; Botox is a very useful and effective drug for treating numerous medical conditions, including wrinkles and bruxism. I’m a personal fan of Botox injections for my own wrinkle removal as well! If you’ve been reading this blog, you’d probably know by now that I’m an advocate of natural looking results for aesthetic enhancement. So that means being conservative with small doses of Botox and/or fillers to restore signs of youth; without looking overdone, aka Baby Botox.
Related blogpost:
Baby Botox & Preventative Botox in Your 20’s
Botox is one of the brand names for Botulinum toxin, a drug that causes muscle relaxation. As Botox was the first brand of Botulinum toxin that was made commercially available. As such, Botox remains the biggest market player among brands of Botulinum toxin. As such, the brand name Botox is sometimes used interchangeably with the drug name, Botulinum toxin.
When injected into muscles, Botulinum toxin inhibits signal transmission from nerves to muscles. This results in muscle relaxation. Since these muscles (e.g. forehead muscles or crows feet) are relaxed, the muscles and skin soften and the wrinkles disappear. Using Botulinum toxin to relax muscles also helps with medical conditions such as bruxism to reduce teeth grinding and protect the teeth.
Although Botox is a very useful drug for treating several medical conditions, many people are still skeptical about receiving Botox injections for fear of side effects and complications. To learn more about the safety issues; and long and short term side effects of Botulinum toxin injections, this blogpost Is Botox Deadly? 5 Things to Know About Botox Safety will discuss these essentials in greater detail.
Are you ready for some real life examples of bad Botox and how you can guess if someone’s had too much botox? Here are some examples of Botox gone wrong and how these examples of botched botox can be fixed.
The first image that comes to mind for most of us would be… the frozen face. There are no lack of examples when it comes to this: odd, expressionless looking faces; and stiff, unmoving forehead muscles and smiles. One celebrity whose appearance has been the subject of media scrutiny for years is Nicole Kidman. The Hollywood actress has admitted to receiving Botox injections in 2013.The 53 year old thespian is back in the spotlight again for her tight looking and frozen facial expressions in emotional scenes in her new drama, The Undoing.
Men are not privy to the faux pas of excessive botox injections too. Tom Cruise has also sparked speculation about having botched botox because of his shiny, unmoving forehead.
How can a frozen and expressionless face from Botulinum toxin injections be avoided?
Thankfully, the effects of Botulinum toxin wear off within 6 months so a paralysed face from Botox is always temporary. However, you can get your wrinkles removed without a frozen face in the first place by choosing to do Baby Botox.
Baby Botox is one of the newer methods for administering botulinum toxin in small amounts and at precise anatomy. This gets the balance of good results (i.e. wrinkles removed) and natural outcomes (i.e. facial expressions are left intact, so you can still smile and frown…etc). You’ll look more refreshed and less tired with Baby Botox. I’m a personal fan of Baby Botox for my own forehead and crows’ feet wrinkles. You can take a look at my before/ after photos of Baby Botox I gave to myself (job perks!) in this blogpost Baby Botox and Preventive Botox in Your 20’s Is Real.
Secondly, if you get Botox for wrinkle removal regularly (I’m one of them too; I get so conscious of my wrinkles!); avoid getting it done too soon. The results of Botulinum toxin last 4-6 months for most people. If Botulinum toxin injections for wrinkles are repeated too early; the effects of muscle relaxation are compounded to freeze the muscles completely. If you’ve been getting Botox injections regularly, you might find these posts How to Make Botox Last Longer and What are the Effects of Long Term Botox useful.
An overarched brow ala Captain Spock from Star Trek is one of the outcomes of too much forehead botox; just one degree shy of a frozen forehead. What has happened is that inappropriate placement Botulinum toxin has caused the tail of the eyebrow to look pulled.
There are more than one causes of spock brow; eyebrow embroidery or tattoos are also one cause of over arched brows. One tip to know whether Botulinum toxin has contributed to their spock brow is to look closely at their forehead movements.
How can Spock Brow after Forehead Botox be prevented or treated?
For this, you’re going to choose your doctor carefully because it boils down to understanding facial anatomy to prevent this from happening in the first place. However, if you already have arched or angry looking brows after forehead botox, it can be corrected! A small amount of Botox to reduce the pull of the frontalis muscle on this high arch is all that is needed.
Jaw botox injections is one of the treatments for bruxism (teeth grinding). By relaxing the masseter muscles with Botulinum toxin, teeth clenching or grinding is reduced. Masseter botox injections also slims down bulky jaw muscles for a slimmer and symmetrical silhouette. If the dosage of Botulinum toxin injected into the masseter muscles is too large, there may be weakness or difficulty in chewing.
Related blogpost:
Bruxism: Causes, Symptoms and Treatments for Teeth Grinding
The risk of masseter botox gone wrong and affecting bite or chewing in reality is very low. Can you guess why? This is because all of us have four different muscles that control the chewing action of the jaw. The three other muscles remain functional if only Botox was injected into the masseter muscle.
How can weakness in chewing be prevented with jaw botox?
Quite simply, the answer is not to overdose on Botox for the jaw muscles. With jaw botox, it’s about striking a good balance between reducing bruxism (and slimming down the muscle) and preserving the ability to chew and bite normally. For some patients, who notice that they are still grinding their teeth or that their face still looks broad- they may require a combination of other treatments on top of jaw botox. This may mean using a night guard or chin fillers to sculpt the face. You can read about how chin fillers can be combined with masseter botox to improve facial proportions in this blogpost A Guide to Slimmer V Face: Jaw Reduction Botox and Chin Filler Review.
Masseter botox causing a crooked smile is one of the rare risks of jaw botox. However this side effect may not be caused by an excessive dose of jaw botox. When botulinum toxin is injected into any area of the body, the toxin has a risk of diffusing into surrounding muscles. This may be accentuated by certain actions or habits after the injections. Where jaw botox is concerned, botulinum toxin may inadvertently diffuse to a nearby muscle that controls the smile (depressor anguli oris). If this muscle gets affected, a crooked smile may result after jaw botox.
How can a crooked smile be avoided after jaw botox?
To minimise the risk of neurotoxin diffusing to surrounding muscles; it is pertinent that post treatment instructions from your doctor are adhered to strictly. For Botox, one of the instructions would to always stay upright for the first 4 hours after receiving the injection. If you were to lie down, the botulinum toxin injected into your muscle may move in a different direction.
And there you have it- the tell tale signs of too much Botox injections. The classic frozen faces or weird expressions are some of the giveaways. To avoid becoming a disaster of bad Botox, my general tip is to go gentle with smaller doses of Botox, especially if you are new to getting neurotoxins or aesthetic treatments. Afterall, it is easier to add on more Botox later than to wait out the effects of too much Botox. My last tip would be to choose a doctor whose treatment philosophies are in line with yours and who can help you better understand anticipated outcomes.
I hope that you have enjoyed this blogpost on bad botox. If you’d like to learn about bad examples of dermal fillers, Too Much Fillers: Tell Tale Signs of Too Much Filler Injections is another fun read!
Ending off this blogpost with a satire on excessive Botox, fillers and cosmetic surgery from pop star, The Weeknd. In his “Save Your Tears” music video, he wore prosthetics to create this look! Thank goodness if was not for real!
