Why do my eyebrows feel heavy after I get Botox?

Botox, a common neurotoxin, is injected into a muscle to soften or paralyze its movement. As we age, repetitive muscle contraction leads to the formation of overlying skin lines and wrinkles. We can treat these lines and wrinkles with routine neurotoxin injections every 3 to 4 months.

Placement and dosing of Botox is key. In order to achieve a natural and non-heavy look, we have to target particular muscle groups in conjunction while treating others.

Let’s talk specifics. We commonly use Botox in the forehead to smooth horizontal lines that begin forming in our late 20s/early 30s. But it’s important to know that the forehead muscle raises our eyebrows while several other muscles pull the eyebrows down. If we only treat the forehead muscle, the eyebrows will begin to fall. This is the result of unopposed downward pull by the untreated muscles. So, if you’re receiving Botox in the forehead muscle, it’s important to inject the muscles that pull the eyebrows down at the same time in order to achieve a balanced and natural look.

Think about it like a scale. One side of the scale pulls the eyebrows up and the other side of the scale pulls the eyebrows down. If we treat only one side of the scale, the eyebrows will be preferentially pulled in the other direction. We often need to treat both sides of the scale in order to get our desired look.