The frontalis muscle needs a decent amount of movement in order to maintain the proper brow lift. In some instances, Botox injections can cause the brow to descend, causing crowding of the upper eyelids, giving a drooping appearance.
Eyebrow drop is so annoying to patients but thankfully the effects of Botox are not permanent. The eyebrows can start rising even before the full effect of Botox on the forehead wears off. It might take 4-6 weeks, but the eyebrow will be back to it's normal position for sure.
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.
What happens when you do this with a Botox treatment is that the muscle you normally use to raise your eyebrows is relaxed while the muscles you use to lower them are still active. As a result, you'll feel like your eyebrows are heavy and the position of your eyebrows may even do down.
However, ptosis can also occur as a side effect of Botox treatment. About 2 percent of people who get a Botox injection may experience ptosis, especially when an untrained individual administers the injection. This probability declines to 1 percent when a skilled healthcare professional does the procedure.
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.
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.
botox injected into the frowning muscles doesn't affect the frontalis muscle that helps raise the eyebrows. If you get treatment of this muscle on the forehead, if too high a dose is used you will not be able to raise your brow.
The “spock brow” can usually be avoided with proper placement of botulinum toxin. If it occurs, it can often be fixed by adding a small amount of additional botulinum treatment to the frontalis muscle just above the highest point of the brow arch.
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.
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 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.
Botox injections for the forehead
Botox can be injected into the forehead between your eyes. 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.
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.
Using anti-wrinkle injections in the depressor of the brow (orbicularis muscle) can be a very effective way to avoid possible brow heaviness.
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 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 the time, this condition will get better after 3 or 4 weeks, or once the neurotoxin wears off. (The effects wear off in about 3-4 months or longer.) In the meantime, at-home treatments could help your eye to get back to normal faster: Muscle massage.
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.
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.
"If you do too much Botox on your forehead for many, many years, the muscles will get weaker and flatter," cautions Wexler, adding that the skin can also appear thinner and looser. Moreover, as your muscles become weaker, they can start to recruit surrounding muscles when you make facial expressions.
Why Does Botox Make Your Forehead Shiny? Light naturally reflects off of smooth surfaces, so the smoother your skin, the more light will bounce. Botox injections smooth the skin, which can cause it to appear shinier, especially if it is overdone.
Don't lie down for at least 3 hours after receiving Botox. Don't go into any saunas, hot tubs, or tanning booths for at least 4 hours. This helps to prevent bruising, because heat can raise your blood pressure. Otherwise, you can resume your regular activities right after getting Botox.