In general, you should begin to see results between 24 and 72 hours, but some patients may not see full results for five days or more.
Avoid heat exposure for 24 to 48 hours, which includes hot showers, tanning beds, hot tubs, and saunas. While alcohol consumption after Botox is not usually a risk, it is recommended you not drink alcohol for 24 hours as a precautionary measure. Alcohol is a blood-thinner, so it could potentially exacerbate bruising.
“It's customary to provide an 18 to 20 percent gratuity for any spa service, no matter if it's sugaring or a Biologique Recherche facial,” Angela Rosen, owner of Penelope & The Beauty Bar in Seattle and Daphne in New York City, tells Allure.
Drink Coffee
You should also avoid coffee before Botox. This is because coffee contains caffeine, which may trigger your blood pressure and increase the likelihood of bruising during the procedure. For this reason, you should avoid coffee and other beverages containing caffeine at least 24 hours before the treatment.
It's highly recommended that you move your face around a lot after getting Botox. This includes smiling, frowning, and raising your eyebrows. It's similar to facial exercises, minus the touching. Facial movement may look — and feel — silly, but it actually helps the Botox work better.
It can take two to four days before the weakening of the muscle begins and movement is stalled. You can see the maximum results of your treatment anywhere from ten to fourteen days after treatment. The best part is that maximum results can be seen up to three months after your treatment.
The first thing you'll notice immediately after Botox injections are little bumps and dots of blood that look just like mosquito bites. These go away in 20 minutes to half an hour. But you won't notice the skin-smoothing effects between three to five days (and up to two weeks).
Why Do You Need To Avoid It? The risk of bruising following Botox is increased when the body or face gets too hot. In addition to avoiding hot tubs, saunas, and other similar places, do not take a hot bath or shower for at least 24 hours after having this treatment.
For the first few days after your BOTOX treatment, you can gently wash your face or apply lotions. You can use the same moisturizer and cleanser you always have, as they won't harm your results. However, facials, microdermabrasion, or any other kind of skin treatments should be avoided for at least a week.
After Cosmetic Botox, Be Sure to Sleep on Your Back
Sleeping on your stomach or side can cause Botox to migrate to other areas of your face. This can result in uneven results or even bruising. Sleeping on your back, however, minimizes the risk of it migrating and ensures it stays where it is supposed to.
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. Too much Botox around the eyes can dramatically affect facial expression. The face is simply frozen.
Avoid alcohol, caffeine, Niacin supplement, high-sodium foods, high sugar foods, refined carbohydrates, spicy foods, and cigarettes 24-48 hours before and after your treatment. (All of these factors may increase risk of bruising and swelling).
The first “true” results will be noticeable within 24 to 48 hours – when you'll see a softening of wrinkles. Why does Botox need a couple days to start working? Botox freezes your muscles by stopping the release of acetylcholine. It takes awhile for your body to “use up” the acetylcholine that's already circulating.
The reason for this delay is due to the time it takes for the body to start reacting to the Botox after it's been injected. Because of this, we like to have our patients come back after two weeks to check on their progress.
When anti-wrinkle injections are injected into the skin it relaxes the muscle (see our 'How anti-wrinkle injections work' article) and makes the surface of the skin smooth. When light shines onto skin without wrinkles it bounces off the skin in a uniform way. The skin appears to be shiny like the surface of a mirror.
The reason that keeping your head above your heart is so crucial right after undergoing your Botox treatment is that bending forward may increase blood circulation to your face and increase the risk that the injected material will move from the targeted areas before it is absorbed.
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.
To prevent swelling, be gentle to your skin. You can wash your face following Botox, but you should: Keep pressure light to avoid swelling. Only use cool or lukewarm water to prevent shifting.
No there are no specific foods that you should avoid prior to Botox injections. To limit the risk/amount of any bruising with injections though you should not take aspirin, drink alcohol or other be taking other blood thinners prior to Botox/filler injections. Best of luck.