You’ve spent a lot of money on Botox injections to get rid of your wrinkles but have seen no results. You’re not alone. We see many people that come to us from other places and tell us that “Botox doesn’t work for me” or “I’m immune to Botox” and wonder what else they can do to treat the wrinkles of their frown lines, forehead and crow’s feet. Before you give up on Botox altogether, it’s important to know some of the reasons why Botox may not work and what you can do to get the best out of the treatment.
The most common reason that Botox does not work is that not enough was given. Botox is not a one size fits all treatment and the same dosage does not work for everyone. Some individuals may need additional Botox to reach an effective level of muscle weakness.
The Botox may also be old, overdiluted, or fake. When the Botox bottle is opened and mixed it needs to be used within a specific time frame otherwise its effects may decrease. This is the approach that many Med Spas that have the cheapest price for Botox use in order to attract clients. Naturally, cutting corners will give you a suboptimal result.
If the Botox is injected in the wrong place, then you won’t get a result. Botox needs to be injected into the muscle in order to be effective. If it is injected too superficially or too deep by an inexperienced injector then it will not work.
Your wrinkles may be too deep for Botox to work on its own. If you have deep lines that are present at rest when you are not using the muscles then you will not be able to get rid of those wrinkles with Botox alone. Injection of a dermal filler product may be needed to provide further improvement.
True Botox resistance is rare. It happens in about 1 out of every 10,000 cases. The exact cause is not known, but it seems that our immune system forms antibodies against the Botox. A more common occurrence is that some people build tolerance to Botox after repeated use and tend to need increase doses over time.
What to do when Botox doesn’t work
The first thing to do is not panic, and don’t blame yourself. It’s not your fault if the Botox doesn’t work. Fortunately, there are options. If you don’t see results from your Botox treatment I would recommend increasing the dosage. If this doesn’t work, then there are other products like Xeomin and Dysport which can be tried. They are similar to Botox except for subtle differences in their formulation. Sometimes people who did not get an optimal result with Botox seem to respond better to Dysport or Xeomin.
Above all else making sure you find yourself an experienced physician injector will give you the highest likelihood of getting the best Botox results possible!