What can not be done after Botox injections in certain areas of the face

It is known that the safety and effectiveness of Botox injections depend on two factors: the professionalism of the doctor and patient compliance with the rules of rehabilitation after the procedures. If the doctor is a really high-class specialist, then the practically unique risk of getting undesirable side effects after botulinum therapy (or not getting the expected effect from it) is that the patient will do something that cannot be done after Botox.

There is also a small risk of adverse events associated with an individual reaction to Botox itself. However, the practice of cosmetologists shows that it is the violations of the rehabilitation period after injections that cause the development of side effects or ineffectiveness of the procedures - more often than possible doctor’s errors and individual patient response to the drug combined.

Simply put, it depends on how strictly the patient adheres to the rules of the rehabilitation period, how effective Botox injections will be and whether undesirable reactions will occur after them. Moreover, if the lack of effectiveness of injections is generally harmless, then side effects can be quite severe, greatly affecting the appearance, condition of the face and sometimes the general well-being of a person. To prevent this, it is important to strictly follow the doctor’s instructions, even if they seem somewhat redundant.

On a note

Some rules of conduct after Botox may indeed seem redundant. So, in fact, there is: separate (but not all) instructions are given only for reinsurance and only because neither the doctors nor the manufacturers of botulinum toxin have sufficient statistics confirming that the rejection of these rules will be safe. Sometimes patients, realizing this, neglect these violations and violate them, and some do it unknowingly, simply not knowing about any recommendations.

A significant part of the cases of undesirable consequences of botulinum therapy is associated with such willfulness, as well as many situations where violation of the conditions of rehabilitation did not lead to anything bad.

Be that as it may, with Botox injections it is useful to know in advance what exactly cannot be done after the procedure. Let's look at such restrictions in detail and find out how strict they are and what the neglect of them can lead to ...

 

What should not be done immediately after Botox injections?

First, we consider all the restrictions after Botox injections, both formal and informal, but indicated by most doctors.

Specialists most often prohibit:

• Lie down and take a horizontal position of the body for 4-5 hours after the procedure (for example, do exercises such as “straps”);
• Bend low and for a long time for 4-5 hours after injections;
• Massage the face, rub it (especially at the injection site) for 3 days after botulinum therapy;
• Train, do fitness, subject the body to great physical exertion for 2-3 days after the procedures;
• During the day, you can’t soar your face, go to the bath or sauna, wash your face with hot water;
• 3-4 days after injections, sunbathe in the sun or walk for a long time in direct sunlight, go to the solarium;
• Carry out other cosmetic procedures for the face for several days after botulinum therapy;
• Use cosmetics (especially masks that enhance blood circulation) for 2 days after Botox injections;
• Drink alcohol for 7-10 days after the procedure;
• Take some medications, which in some cases can greatly affect the effect of botulinum toxin injections;
• Eat spicy foods, drink hot tea for several hours after injections;
• Visit the dentist after injections in the nasolabial folds and in the muscles near the lips.

On a note

Also, stress, strong emotional shocks, and feelings are considered extremely undesirable in the recovery period after injections. However, specifying them as contraindications would be somewhat ridiculous: it is unlikely that the patient of the cosmetology cabinet will deliberately create a stressful situation after the procedures. Therefore, this condition can be considered a kind of wish: you should plan your schedule so that a few days after the procedure are as calm and quiet as possible, with a minimum risk of worries.

What are all these restrictions connected with and what can happen if they are violated? Let's look at the most important prohibitions and understand their validity.

 

Horizontal body position

After Botox injections, you can not go to bed and, especially, take a horizontal position face down for 4-5 hours after the procedure - due to a rush of blood to the head. Such a tide leads to vasodilation, intensification of biochemical processes in the intercellular space and in the injected muscles themselves. Because of this, part of the botulinum toxin, which has not yet managed to penetrate into the nerve cells, can be inactivated, which will reduce the effect of injections: the smaller part of the drug will have the desired effect - therefore, the result will be less pronounced than expected.

Another effect is also possible: due to a rush of blood to the face and intensive movement of substances in the intercellular space, the dose of botulinum toxin may partially go beyond the muscles into which it was injected and act on neighboring fibers that were not planned to be immobilized. As a result, noticeable cosmetic defects are possible: ptosis, raising an eyebrow or both eyebrows, a “waxy face”.

The probability of undesirable consequences in violation of this rule is quite high. After injections, botulinum toxin itself is distributed naturally in the tissues, and it is precisely the rush of blood to the face that is capable of affecting such a normal distribution.

Therefore, within 4-5 hours after the injections, you should either walk calmly or sit in the car, on the couch, in the park on the bench, in the cafe at the table. But you can’t go to bed, just go to the sofa or bed.

This restriction is especially relevant when injecting in the muscles near the eyes: here, the spread of botulinum toxin into neighboring muscles leads to the most noticeable and ugly side effects.

On a note

For this reason, by the way, Botox injections are undesirable in the afternoon. The less time left before they sleep, the greater the likelihood of undesirable consequences.

The mechanism itself, by which in this case undesirable phenomena can develop, is generally universal. It is the risk of its implementation that is the reason for many other restrictions in the rehabilitation period.

 

Alcohol intake

When taking alcohol, blood vessels dilate, which leads to increased blood circulation in the area of ​​injected muscles. Consequently, this can contribute to the appearance of the same side effects that can cause a horizontal position of the body after injections: either a lower Botox efficiency, or diffusion of botulinum toxin into adjacent tissues (or both at the same time).

In addition, when drinking alcohol, a person decreases control over his actions, because of which he can perform other actions that are contraindicated after injections: rub his face, go to the bathhouse, go to bed or, conversely, move actively.

However, alcohol intake is not such a strict restriction, such as a ban on lying. The relationship between alcohol consumption and the undesirable consequences of botulinum therapy has not been clearly confirmed.

As a result, the terms of the ban on alcohol after injections of Botox and its analogues are not strictly regulated. Some doctors do not recommend drinking a week after injections, others do not recommend drinking it for two weeks, still others tell patients that they can be taken in moderation on the day of injection, especially if the drink is weak (beer or champagne, for example). There are even reviews of patients who were recommended by doctors to drink a little wine after the procedure so that Botox “better fixes itself”.

In most cases, cosmetologists advise to refrain from taking alcohol for 7-10 days after injections, and also not to drink 3 days before the procedure.

 

Various physical activities

The ban on physical activity after Botox is explained by the same mechanisms as in the previous two cases: with active movement, blood circulation in the muscles of the face increases, which can provoke an undesirable spread of botulinum toxin outside the injected muscles. This risk is especially great if the loads are associated with constant tilts and flips of the body when blood rushes to the head and face.

This restriction is as strict as the prohibition to go to bed. At least 2 days after the procedures, fitness, strength yoga, acrobatics, running, strength exercises, as well as other sports associated with heavy loads are contraindicated. It is also undesirable to dance, jump, swim, engage in martial arts.

It is better to visit the gym only 3-4 days after the injections, and in the ideal case, when Botox “gets up” and the effect of the injections is already fully manifested.

Facial massage (mechanical effect on the skin and muscles), as well as some other cosmetic procedures

Similarly, facial massage, baths, lotions, acupuncture, peeling are extremely undesirable after injections due to the fact that they warm the skin and muscles under it, stimulating the active spread of botulinum toxin in the tissues. Especially after Botox photorejuvenation is prohibited, which consists precisely in the effect of thermal rays on the skin of the face.

It is worth noting that the cosmetologists themselves, after each Botox injection, gently massage the injection site precisely for the directed distribution of the drug in the muscle. Here, these movements are strictly calculated and provide a predictable result. An arbitrary massage, and even more so, warming up and tonic procedures can be accompanied by completely unexpected consequences.

All cosmetic procedures in those areas where Botox was injected are allowed to be done only after the effect of botulinum therapy is fully manifested and wrinkles disappear. This will mean that botulinum toxin has been absorbed in sufficient quantities by nerve synapses, and other procedures will no longer affect its effect.

On a note

A general body massage can be done the day after botulinum therapy. It will have little effect on Botox kinetics. It is only important to inform the massage therapist that it is impossible to massage the forehead, the eyebrows and the face area in general.

Facial massage is especially undesirable after the combined botulinum therapy with filler.In this case, in addition to the side effects from the introduction of Botox, unpleasant effects from the movement of the filler into the tissues are also possible, the filling of which is undesirable.

 

Bath, sauna, thermal procedures

Direct heat treatment is heated even more than physical activity, muscles and skin by hot air, water or steam in a bath, sauna or just in a hot bath at home. Therefore, during the day after Botox injections, it is undesirable to wash with hot water, for 2-3 days you should not lie in a warm bath for a long time, and until the botulinum treatment effect is fully manifested, you should refrain from going to the bathhouse or sauna.

This restriction is strict, and there are practically no doctors who allow it to be ignored.

 

Taking drugs that enhance blood circulation

The intensity of blood circulation and the likelihood of Botox spreading beyond the muscles into which it is initially injected can also be affected by drugs whose main objective (or side effect) is to increase blood circulation.

These include, for example:

• Prostaglandin preparations (vazaprostan, for example);
• Calcium channel blockers (Norax, Foridon, Kordafen and others);
• Means based on low molecular weight dextran (Reomacrodex, Reopoliglukin);

…and some others.

It is not necessary to know all of them: it is the task of the doctor, who should be informed if some medicine needs to be drunk after botulinum therapy, and consult on the admissibility of its intake. This applies to any pharmaceuticals, whether aspirin, a simple antibiotic or sleeping pills - just in case, it is worth coordinating his appointment with a cosmetologist.

 

Long sunbathing and hiking in the solarium

Like warming the skin in a bath or sauna, sunbathing in the sun or in a tanning bed stimulates metabolic processes in those muscles into which botulinum toxin was injected, and creates a risk of side effects from the procedures or weakening the result from them. For the same reason, it is undesirable to walk in the sun for a long time, and even more so, to engage in sports in the fresh air for several days after the procedures.

Limit exposure to the sun after Botox injections should be for 7-10 days. In extreme cases, you can sunbathe for a short time by covering your face with an umbrella.

 

Visit to the dental office

This restriction is relative, and is relevant primarily for those who received Botox injections into the lips or nasolabial folds. The fact is that after such injections you sit for a long time with your mouth wide open, tensing the muscles on the cheeks and near the nose, because of the constant tone, botulinum toxin can spread outside the injected muscle, which will lead to inactivation of those muscles that Botox gets into would be undesirable.

At the same time, the dental procedures themselves are undoubtedly more important than Botox injections, and therefore if there is an urgent need for them (for example, with an acute pain in the tooth), the ideal result from botulinum therapy, in general, can be sacrificed. Moreover, the probability of an undesirable effect when visiting a dental office is not so high.

On a note

If, after Botox injections, one had to go to the dentist, and undesirable effects appeared, then you should contact your cosmetologist - often the deficiencies can be quickly corrected.

 

Spicy food

Here the severity of contraindications is low: there are only suggestions that spicy foods, having a warming effect and leading to perspiration, can provoke side effects from botulinum therapy. In fact, the unequivocal effect of such products (pepper, ginger, garlic) on the result of botulinum therapy is not confirmed, and is only a hypothesis used for reinsurance.

Nevertheless, in order to avoid even a slight risk of undesirable consequences, it is better not to get carried away with spicy foods after Botox injections.

 

What is not prohibited after Botox injections?

Many patients, on the contrary, turn out to be too cautious and impressionable, and therefore are even afraid of such things that after Botox are not contraindicated and quite acceptable.

For example, the result of the procedures will not be affected in any way:

1. Smoking. Although here you can repeat the hackneyed truth - smoking is harmful to health in general. Neither beauty nor health will add to this addiction;
2. Take vitamins and vitamin-mineral complexes, including specialized preparations of B vitamins. They have little effect on blood circulation and the pharmacokinetics of botulinum toxin;
3. Just normal moderate physical activity - walking in the fresh air, for example. As for swimming in cold water, there is no unequivocal opinion: on the one hand, cold water stimulates a reduction in the lumen of blood vessels and a weakening of metabolic processes in the skin, on the other hand, swimming is a direct violation of the ban on the horizontal position of the body. Therefore, for complete safety, it is worth refraining from swimming for at least 2-3 days;
4. Flights by plane, travel by water. Although here it is necessary to take into account the duration of such a voyage - if you need to fly on a plane to the other side of the planet within 8-10 hours, then such a flight itself will certainly not give vitality to the body and freshness to the face, and after botulinum therapy can provoke the appearance of edema;
5. Drink tea and coffee, not hot and in moderation. These drinks themselves do not affect the result of botulinum therapy, but simply a large number of them (especially at bedtime) can provoke the appearance of edema, which, in turn, can cause side effects from botulinum therapy. But hot tea and coffee can contribute to active perspiration, heating of the skin and muscles of the face, which in the end can negatively affect the absorption of botulinum toxin by nerve cells.

We must not forget the simple rule: any questions about what can and cannot be done after Botox are best asked directly to the doctor who injected Botox. This doctor is responsible for the result of the procedure, and therefore will most responsibly allow or prohibit certain liberties. Moreover, this specialist will take into account the individual characteristics of a particular patient, the dose of botulinum toxin that he has introduced, and the general history of the procedures.

 

An interesting video about contraindications and limitations after Botox

 

The myths and reality of botulinum therapy