Need opinions re: Botox and filler
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free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 2:32 am

I'm scheduled on Tuesday to get some Botox and filler with the plastic surgeon I always use. He's an excellent doctor, but I'm an infrequent client. Filler lasts a good while with me and with Botox, there's just no way I'm spending that much money every few months.

Anyway, I scheduled this because I have something coming up I wanted to look good for. It's in early September, so my time frame to get this done is kind of slim.

Here's the trouble - I'm terrified of Botox droop. It's never happened before, but in the days following my Botox injections, I sit on pins and needles scared that it will happen. One of my eyes is smaller than the other and I notice sometimes after Botox, it looks even a little bit smaller. Nothing noticeable to anyone but me, but it bothers me. That's the tradeoff for the smooth forehead.

The other thing is family is coming into town and I will have to see them on the 20th. I get a little redness and swelling with filler and I don't know if it'll have gone down enough in six days. My mom thinks I'm making too much of a deal out of this and says if I'm still swollen, just tell the family I had an allergic reaction, but no way. I'm not going to see them looking like a Madonna chipmunk.

What would you do? Just cancel the appointment and forget about it? My bangs hide my forehead which is a plus, and I don't have lines, but wanted my nose straightened out again (tends to be a little turned up) and my cheeks filled out a little bit. I'm 36 and my skin's OK except for a few breakouts. I just wanted a little bit of a tweaking.

Sometimes I've gone in for Botox feeling confident, but when I feel worried and stressed about it like this, I get superstitious that this is a warning that it won't turn out well and I should listen to my gut. (I do have generalized anxiety disorder, so who knows if that plays into it.)

I'd love to hear your opinions. Thanks in advance!

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 5:34 am

Do you puff up with Botox? Just do Botox if you look normal within 6 days. And schedule the fillers after the visit is over.

As to your Botox issues, I can't speak to that. How many times have you done injectables because 36 is pretty young!

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:26 am

I am going in tomorrow as well to do juvaderm in my lip and lower chin line and a touch of botox around my eyes at the corners.
I do usually bruise so I am timing this to be recovered by the weekend (goal), but I also take arnica and it really does help!
I quit my Omega's, E's and any aspirin for a few days before (along with alcohol) and that does help.
Looking forward to it, have not done the filler since 2009!

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 7:50 am

Well, I thought it over and canceled tomorrow's appointment. I didn't absolutely need it for this specific date in September; it just would have been nice.

I have to be in the right state of mind to do it. If I feel nervous about it, then I'm a wreck for the next few days worrying about possible drooping or if something's wrong here or there, etc., etc. Last time I had Botox, I got a headache, so I was getting my shorts in a bunch over that, which of course turned out to be nothing.

It's not even the needles or the doctor that frightens me. If the appointment was just for filler and the darn relatives weren't coming, I would have kept it, but I am scared of Botox. It's great stuff, but I've seen photos of drooping and it's pretty ugly. And I never understand why one eye always gets a little bit smaller.

Anyway, thanks for the advice, AnnieR and LauraLizzie. When I eventually do it again, I'll let you know how it comes out.

LauraLizzie-I've had my nose injected twice to straighten it. It's just a little bit pugged and I would never do a nose job, and the filler worked amazingly well. Even after it wore off, my nose was improved and straighter than it used to be. As for fillers elsewhere, I had my cheeks done once a few years ago. It really did last a long time.

And good luck, AnnieR! I'm sure you will look beautiful! Does the Botox around the eye area help with lines or just prevent those crinkles when you smile? And thanks for the arnica tip. Smile

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 8:18 pm

Oh my - you are so young to do these things. It can be a slippery slope. I did botox for a few years - every 4 months in my early 50's and have found better ways.

Please check out facial exercises and things such as microcurrent for lifting. It is cheaper to buy the machines and free for the Facial exercises. Botox does have potentially scary, long lasting reactions. Mine was only for 11's and worked fine but I'm happier to just be me. I feel more real and I have no fear about the results.

free skin care · Mon Aug 13, 2012 9:40 pm

sister sweets wrote:

Oh my - you are so young to do these things. It can be a slippery slope. I did botox for a few years - every 4 months in my early 50's and have found better ways.

Please check out facial exercises and things such as microcurrent for lifting. It is cheaper to buy the machines and free for the Facial exercises. Botox does have potentially scary, long lasting reactions. Mine was only for 11's and worked fine but I'm happier to just be me. I feel more real and I have no fear about the results.

I agree, it can be slippery. You only need to look at celebrities to see the results. The filler in my nose has lasting effects that seem to improve each time. My first time was in 2007 and I was amazed that I finally had a straight nose. My pugged nose was the bane of my existence for years. I had Radiesse again in 2009 and once again I noticed lasting improvement. The doctor told me it has something to do with the tissue becoming inflamed and building up collagen, which is why it never went back to its original pugged self. 2009 was the last time I had the nose done.

I only had Radiesse once in my cheeks, and that was because I tend to sometimes have a poor appetite and can be underweight. My doctor said I'm a sinker rather than a sagger, and it was clear my cheeks had sunk. There was no more of that nice youthful plumpness. The filler also lasted a really long time - far past the year or so that you could expect. I have been through a really tough bought of anxiety for almost this entire year though and my appetite really suffered. That's when I noticed things sinking again.

So I do use it sparingly, and my doctor is a conservative one. I'd never touch anything else.

As for Botox, I wear bangs, but sometimes think of growing them out but don't want to see those expression lines when I raise my eyebrows. They even bug me when I have to see them at the hairdresser and my hair's combed back. This time I was going to ask him if he could do the injections so my brow would be slightly raised. This would give me a little more room to work in when applying makeup (my brow's too low and my eyes are deep set) and maybe open up my eyes more. But the relatives coming and fear of droop set in, so I canceled.

I'll probably do it when I have some time where I don't have to see anyone for a few days. I'll also look into facial exercises, but I'm pretty bad with routines. And it seems like when I have been consistent with them (Baby Quasar, for example), I've gotten no results. Sad

Complicating matters is my intolerance of retinoids and need for an anti-acne regimen. I use Acanya which seems to be doing the job, but it's not anti-aging. I don't know how to fit any sort of anti-aging serum or cream into my skincare regimen without causing oiliness and acne. I'd like to try Vitamin C again, but this is what I do:

-Wash face
-Tone
-Apply physical moisturizer-sunscreen combo (daytime)

For evening:

-Wash face
-Tone
-Acanya
-Eye cream

I have no idea where to fit a Vitamin C serum into that. The one time I did try it, it made my face sticky and it burned. Any suggestions, sister sweets? Thanks for your reply!

free skin care · Tue Aug 14, 2012 5:23 am

Vitamin C should be applied after your toner and before your moisturiser in the morning. After applying the Vitamin C, wait around 20 minutes if you can before applying the moisturiser.

In regard to celebrities and the slippery slope - I really don't believe this applies to us "mere mortals" - celebrities can afford to spend buckets of money on fillers and their doctors don't seem to ever say "No!" to them. But I think little touch ups now and then can be really good. Also, Botox can be a fantastic preventative.

free skin care · Tue Aug 14, 2012 8:13 am

Well, that's just it. I don't do it every 6-8 months when it should wear off. And I don't do the full amount, usually half of the recommended units to give it a more natural lift rather than a pulled effect. But that is just me, less does so much more and lasts a long time.
I did glabeller about 7 months ago but before that I had not done it in a few years. I have done my crowsfeet only once and that has been about 4 years ago, along with my upper and lower bleph. I just wanted to keep up the benefits of the bleph and keep the corners from forming deeper lines, which they are just now beginning too. It wears off so very gradually and fades into a natural look that is still fitting of my age.
The filler, I am not putting into places I have had it before, just a few new lower chin lines. The other has lasted and built new collagen around it (in my nasolabials), so of that I am grateful. It also does prove the theories that it can build and promote the growth.
I have never gotten the dreaded droop (knock on wood) but I am also do not stray away from my injector. I always go back to the doctor at my med spa, not the latest apprentice/esthetician at the cheaper price. He knows my face and I trust that. I do believe that makes the differance.

free skin care · Wed Aug 15, 2012 7:55 am

Day One of the after party: I did bruise with the injections but just at the injection sites. I put ice on it immediately on the way home (had my driver with me, the hubby). I stopped to eat at a sub shop, felt that wasn't too public for me. No stares, that was good.
Day Two: Slight swelling still,broken blood vessels, bruises at the site, but they are very small at each site, about the size of a small zit/pinprick to the largest about the size of a small pencil eraser.
Cover-able by all means and will most likely be gone/faded enough to go out by the weekend.
I will let you know!!!

Fri Aug 24, 2012 3:23 am

Annie.. Just wondering you say your NL line fillers have lasted. Is this the case after the first time you ever filled them, or did you do it a couple of times before it lasted so long? Thanks Smile

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