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.
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.
The most common negative reaction to injections to your face is a droopy eyelid, also called ptosis or blepharoptosis. Most people don't have this problem. Around 5% of people who get Botox will have problems with eyelid droop. This number falls to less than 1% if a skilled doctor does the injection.
A Botox injection is an appropriate treatment for hooded eyelids. The treatment can treat a low eyebrow position or slight brow drooping, which is causing the eyelids to hang lower than they should be. Botox can be injected into the outer end of the eyebrow to elevate the eyebrow slightly.
Hooded eyes are often an inherited feature. However, this condition can worsen as you age because the skin on your upper eyelid begins to lose its elasticity. In addition, the tissue that holds the eye structures also weakens, resulting in puffy, full, heavy lids.
There are many causes of hooded eyelids, including aging, genetics, or underlying fat and muscle. Our skin tends to lose elasticity and begins to fall as we age, but the effect is more evident on the face, especially around the eyes. This leads to a noticeable droop around the eyes, appearing hooded.
Individuals can use makeup to enhance their eyes and make them seem wider and more open. Other treatment options include dermal fillers, laser therapy, and surgery to lift the eyebrow and remove excess skin, fat, and soft tissue.
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.
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.
Typically, an oculoplastic surgeon may prescribe an average dose of 12 to 24 Botox units for treatment around and under the eyes.
You see droopy eyelids when Botox unintentionally affects a different muscle. This usually happens when treating your frown lines, but it can also happen when treating horizontal forehead wrinkles, especially if you have a narrow forehead.
Botox paralyzes the frontalis, preventing it from moving, and thus preventing those horizontal wrinkles. But the frontalis muscle is responsible for raising the eyebrows. So it makes sense that paralyzing this muscles gives you heavy brows.
This is a side effect of Botox treatments, which can be caused by having an injection done too close to your eyebrows, which pushes them down and in turn, makes your eyelids droopy and puffy.
According to Dr Gavin Chan, one of the most important things practitioners can do is to, “inject the lateral tail of the corrugator which is the muscle which causes the bunching (6.35) of the frown. Superficially injecting the lateral tail of the frown (corrugator) muscle can help avoid ptosis”.
A qualified, experienced injector should never inject the area near the orbital bone right above the pupil. If Botox is injected here, it can drift down toward the upper eyelid and cause an eyelid droop. This can last from weeks to even months.
Anti Wrinkle injections have a long track record for treating forehead lines. However, your forehead & eyelids will feel heavy for a few weeks afterwards. Your eyebrows and eyelids may also appear a little puffy first thing in the morning upon awakening but don't worry this will settle down.
The best and most satisfying treatment for this problem is an upper eye lift, or upper blepharoplasty, which reduces the amount of skin on the upper eyelid." Blepharoplasty is the second most common plastic surgery operation in the UK, and Mr Ramakrishnan says patients are normally very satisfied with the results.
Give a Lifted Look
“Much of the time with a hooded eye, the top lid is longer than the lower lash line,” says Renee. To help bring the appearance of the eye up, blend a deeper eyeshadow along the outer two-thirds of the lid and the outer lower lash line.
Apply a lighter eyeshadow shade over the lid, up to your transition color. It's good to use a lighter satin or even slightly shimmery color on your eyelids. This will reflect light off your eyelids, which in turn will make the fold above crease seem less prominent.
According to the National Stroke Association, forcing your eyelids to work out every hour may improve eyelid droop. You can work eyelid muscles by raising your eyebrows, placing a finger underneath and holding them up for several seconds at a time while trying to close them.
Will it cause you to look older? From a medical point of view, once the effects of Botox wear off, your face will NOT look older. Actually the opposite happens with certainty. Botox injections help you get rid of some of the unwanted wrinkles around the eyes, forehead, chin etc….
Can Botox open up your eyes? Yes, Botox can open up your eyes to a degree. Botox injections in strategic places can relax the muscles between the brows, allowing the brows to lift up and open the eyes wider. The overall effect is tighter skin, elevated brows, and a more youthful eye appearance.
Eye brow drop is one of the most common complications of Botox injections. We have few patients that come new to the clinic that ask us specifically to be careful with the eyebrow as they had them dropped before from previous injectors.