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Botox Prep – How to get the best results from your treatment.

Danielle Mathers RN (BSN)
August 31, 2022

Get ready! Time for a Botox appointment? Let’s talk about what you can do to prep for your visit.

Lay off the booze

Alcohol is metabolized by the liver.  Your liver is responsible for creating clotting factors.  So if your liver is too busy breaking down alcohol, your blood won’t clot as well which means…bruising. 

Another reason alcohol leads to bruising is because it’s a vasodilator – your blood vessels temporarily relax and expand when drinking.  If your blood vessels are dilated, you have a higher chance of more blood leaking out if a vessel is ruptured. 

All of this can greatly impact your chances of bruising.  So maybe leave the celebrations until after your treatment!  I recommend no alcohol for at least three days before-hand.

Hold off on non-prescribed blood thinning meds

Certain medications can thin the blood. This means a higher risk for bruising.

As long as your blood-thinning medications are not prescribed by your doctor, it’s recommended to stop taking these medications at least seven days prior to your Botox appointment due to the increased risk of bruising.

However, if you’re on blood-thinning medications for serious medical conditions such as irregular heartbeats, heart stents, clotting disorders, history of heart attacks/strokes, or other serious conditions, please don’t stop these medications and just deal with the risk of a small bruise!

The most common blood thinning medications include (but are not limited to):

  • Aspirin (even small doses like 81mg!)
  • Excedrin
  • Ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin)
  • Naproxen (Aleve)
  • Celecoxib (Celebrex)
  • Fish/krill oil/Omega 3’s
  • Glucosamine
  • Vitamin E
  • Garlic
  • Ginkgo
  • Ginseng
  • St. John’s Wart

PS: Tylenol (acetaminophen) is not a blood thinner 🙂

No exercise for 24 hours afterwards

Going to the gym, or doing any exercise, dilates the blood vessels and increases blood flow. This gives the potential for Botox to migrate to a different muscle than what was originally injected. That would be a bit ‘oops’!

Also, sweating may cause you wipe your face and, therefore, put pressure on the areas treated.  This can push the product out of that particular muscle and into a different one which can cause brow drops.

Plan on doing your exercise before your appointment rather than after. That’s right, we’re giving you a great excuse to skip the workout for 24 hours!  You’re welcome.

Sit up straight!

Just kidding. Kind of. You don’t necessarily have to sit up straight – just don’t lay flat for at least four hours after your treatment.

There is a slight chance that your Botox can migrate from the original injection site. Keep this in mind when booking late evening treatments!

Keep your skin clean

Avoid wearing makeup right after your treatment. Sometimes there are slight red bumps from the injections after your treatment that you’ll be tempted to cover, but this generally settles in less than 30 minutes.

It’s best to keep your skin clean and avoid dirty makeup and makeup brushes for at least a few hours after your treatment to help avoid any infections.

No pressure 😉

Pressure on the areas treated can cause possible migration of the Botox from the original injection site to another area altogether. This can cause relaxation of a different muscle which is, obviously, not ideal.

We want that liquid gold (disclaimer: not actually gold) to stay right where we put it! So, for 24 hours, DO NOT get any massages, wear hats/headbands/helmets, or do anything else that can put pressure on the injected areas.

Patience, patience, patience (sometimes)

Botox and Dysport can take anywhere from 3-14 days to fully kick in. Results are generally quicker if you are keeping up with your 3-4 monthly treatments (yaaaas!).

This is why we generally recommend follow-ups in two weeks. You’ll be glad you waited!

Let’s Chat…

No matter what your concern or want is (within reason!), I’d love to help you and work out a plan to help you feel better about it. Book in for a complimentary consultation and let’s chat!

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